Alex Neil is raring to go after his summer break, although he admitted that there is a lot of work to do in terms of recruitment in the transfer window...
SHORT BREAK
"It's always good to get back. It's been a really short break for all of us really. Some of the international lads aren't back yet we've given them an extended break - an extra week. It's difficult to get that balance between them getting enough rest, mentally as well as physically, but equally getting them ready for the start of the season."
FITNESS WORK
"Boys have started their work, work related to getting their fitness up as much as we can but equally without breaking them down and avoiding injuries. So far so good on that front so lets hope it continues."
RECRUITMENT
"Mainly just where the lads baseline fitness is, because it gives us a gauge of how hard we can push them, where their thresholds are, where we can potentially get them to and also at the moment, a lot of my time is spent on recruitment. We've got a lot of work to do and we've got a big job on our hands in terms of getting ourselves prepared and ready for this season. A lot of our time is dedicated to that."
CONTRACTS RENEWED
"I think it was vitally important that people who do know the club - we've still currently got a lot of bodies to recruit for next season - it was vitally important that when they do come in the building, there's guys know what this club's about. That know how you need to adapt, what the fanbase is going to bring us as a team and all the bits in between just of the club. I think it's important that you've got guys who are Sunderland through and through and it goes through the fabric of the club to the bottom."
GOOCH
"At every club you'll have people who have been there ten years, 15 years, 20 years, what you want to do is make those people, whether it's the cleaner or Goochy in the first team, you need to make them feel included in what we're trying to do. We're only going to be successful if we're pulling in the same direction and pulling together. I think Gooch, certainly in terms of my time here, his contribution is the only thing I can judge him on and which was very good, albeit my first game I don't think I put him in the team. So he on merit worked his way into the team and was vitally important in some of the crucial game we had towards the end of the season."
NO EASY GAMES
"That's one thing that I'm really trying to guard against by everybody really. The Championship has been my bread and butter for a number of years and the difficulty you've got, unlike with League One and the sample that I had, is the fact you can play top of the league and then bottom of the league and both of the games are equally as difficult. There isn't any easy game. There isn't any easy points. You need to fight tooth and nail for every single point, providing we understand that, providing we go and do the best we possibly can in the recruitment window and add as much quality and depth to the squad as we can, we'll give ourselves the best chance of being successful. All the key elements have been discussed on a regular basis - a daily basis - we just want to make sure we do as well as we can."
