There’s been investment into the club’s training facilities, and we’ve improved the pitch at the Stadium of Light - very early into Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’ tenure it was revealed that he’d spent around £500,000 on a pitch lighting system that would help to maintain the quality of our playing surface for many years to come. Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images Whilst none of us are particularly privy to the inner workings of the club these days, as very little is said outside of official communications, it’s pretty clear that Johnson and Speakman have a good working relationship, and the way that our player recruitment was handled this summer - with the influence of several others, of course, as it would be unfair to only attribute that to our Head Coach and Sporting Director - was impeccable. Whilst Johnson was appointed prior to the change in ownership by KLD’s predecessors, it would be fair to assume that the current owner - given the fact he was in talks to purchase the club at the time - had a small part in helping to choose the next man to move us forward.īut, he’s still had to prove himself to the new owner and his Sporting Director, Kristjaan Speakman, showing that he is willing and capable of working within their boundaries. Lee Johnson certainly isn’t perfect, and it would be fair to say that he’s made mistakes during his short time thus far at Sunderland, but he’s shown adaptability and a willingness to work in a modern system - one entirely different to anything that he’s worked within at each of the clubs he was with before landing on Wearside.

Having championed the need to move towards a sustainable, academy-led approach for Sunderland for many years, seeing the sensible way in which the playing side of club is being run play out in front of us this season has been welcome, and refreshing.

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