Sunderland are opening up their own window of opportunity.

We appear to be a squad with a solid plan, and as fans, we should relax and enjoy the preseason optimism.

I always look forward to the release of Sunderland’s new uniforms since it serves as a reminder that the new season is quickly approaching.

However, with the release of the uniform, my thoughts always drift to who will be wearing it on the field for the opening game of the season. It’s always been a source of anxiety in the past, since Sunderland’s transfer activity has frequently seen us linked with a large number of players who move on.

There is then a flurry of activity in the days leading up to the window closing, when loans are agreed upon and players are brought in with little or no time to allow the head coach to establish a team in preparation for the start of the season.

When I left Wembley Stadium with Premier League ambitions, reality set in, and the high was replaced by the awareness that we were in for a fight. How many times have we heard that the club has plans in place for transfer targets based on the division in which we would be playing the next season, only for those plans to never materialise?

This is something we can’t say about recent weeks since we’ve moved quickly, and those who are already on their way in have a solid reputation and fans at their previous teams who are disappointed with their departure.

We understand that, as much as our recruitment team wants to bring a player in, we are not always the only interested party, and the expectations of both the selling club and the player themselves can make a transaction impossible. Many people wrote us off within days of our playoff triumph, and given that promoted clubs have gone straight back down in the previous two seasons, you can understand the pessimistic assessment of our chances.

However, someone needs to break the mould, and while many teams have spent heavily in recent years, the club appears to have a solid plan in place.

Nothing can or will be settled before we face West Ham United in August, and even then, the season is far from over.

The combination of youth and experience has served us well, and Régis Le Bris is a highly motivated coach who expects a lot from both his squad and himself. There is a sense that the club has a strategy in place that they intend to implement as soon as possible, rather than waiting until the last minute to sign new players.

Let’s enjoy the ride, welcome the new guys, and trust the plan.

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