Kristjaan Speakman has been outlining SAFC’s January transfer plans and the big news is that Dan Neil is going nowhere and is under contract until 2025…
DAN NEIL STAYS
"We don't need to lose anybody right now. The whole purpose of the project is to build those assets and develop that strength in depth, and there's nothing better than having teams interested in your players because that does suggest that good things are occurring. But we won't be entertaining any of those players leaving in the window, they are motivated by Sunderland getting to where we want to get to at the end of the season."
INCOMINGS
"We have numerous players who are on our radar throughout the whole year that we are constantly monitoring and tracking, and if the opportunity to acquire one of those players comes up then we will do so. If it's not the right player and it's not the right time, then we won't. That shouldn't bring a nervousness to any of our fans around our ambition to achieve, I think we just have to be very clear where the improvements need to be and whether that improvement can be made by that player joining the group. We've got a really strong group at the moment and we have faith that they can get us promoted but naturally you have to have your eyes open over these next 30 days.”
CONTRACTS
"January always has its difficulties in terms of where players are in their contractual status, and teams are midway through their season so where is the motivation to let players go. The other thing from our point of view is can we get someone who can come in and meet the level of expectation that has been here so far - they don't have a pre-season to get to know the other lads, they don't have a window to acclimatise to moving to the North East, or whatever it might be.”
COVID
"At the moment, teams above us in the first and second tiers are retaining players because of the pandemic and the need to have more players in your squad to deal with the postponements and what have you. Also, you have to bear in mind that the bar for us is really high. If you exclude the injury situation, we are sitting in a really good spot. Fans feel that what they have seen at the Stadium of Light in the last few months is all in a positive space and we have absolute faith in the group that we have at the moment to get us over the line into one of those top two places.”
NO RUSH
"We're not going to be rushed, hurried, or pushed into making signings that don't fit what we are trying to do in the short-term or the long-term, but I'm certainly not going to go confirming or discussing any names because that would be really rude of me because some of those players are at other clubs. We've got some real flexibility in the squad and what that does is give us options in terms of where we place players or where we see them playing over the next 22 games. Then, based on what is available in the market - because there's some scarcity in the market due to Covid and other issues - we can be smart in terms of where we select players."
BUDGET
"I've only been here a year and I don't really know what happened here before, but there's always the notion about 'is there the money there'. But in the last January window we made acquisitions that cost transfer fees and salaries on long-term deals, we did exactly the same in the summer, and I think everyone has to realise we are in a period within the football cycle where there are not as many transfers of high values occurring. We're trying to run the football club in a responsible manner, but we are also trying to improve constantly. If you cast your mind back a year, we went into the January transfer window only a month after I had joined and we made some acquisitions for short-term benefit in terms of a couple of loan signings, and a couple of players on permanents in Carl Winchester and Ross Stewart who have turned out to be really good acquisitions for the football club. We'll always try to approach it in that way.”
LOANS
"I don't necessarily see that loans are not as good as permanent signings, they all perform a function - it's about getting the right mix. In each of the last two windows we have spent money on the transfer fees, we have spent money on the salaries, but a lot of that is confidential and the numbers don't get out there. We've also made significant bids on other players that unfortunately we weren't able to acquire. We don't run on an ad-hoc basis where we win one week so we'll spend more, we lose the next week so we'll spend less. We're running to a strategy and a model. Anything we have got within the football club, we are always putting that back into the football club.”
PROMOTION
"The ownership is always looking favourably on improving the group because everyone's motivation is to get promoted. There is the opportunity for us to acquire players if we feel the need to do so, but if we don't feel the need to do so then we won't and we might spend that money elsewhere. Where we are at the present time in the league means we will look to do our very best in this window to put ourselves in the best possible place, but I won't commit to say what that is because it would be remiss of me."
