Rowell: We will finish higher than 13th
Hello and welcome to the first Rowell Report of the 2010/11 season and if you don't mind, I'll start on an upbeat note.
I go into the season feeling that it genuinely shouldn't be too difficult for us to improve on last year and although it has been a fairly quiet summer so far, I still fancy our chances of a top half-table finish.
I'm pretty sure the top eight will be beyond us.
I've got the bookies' odds in front of me with last season's top eight way ahead of everybody else in the division and, personally, I think that is a fair reflection of their superiority.
But I don't see any reason why Sunderland can't finish 10th or 9th.
I think the era of big jumps up the table in the Premier League are a thing of the past, at least for the immediate future. They're big beasts in the division these days, the leading teams swollen by years of Sky money and I don't see many going past them.
But there is no reason why Sunderland can't go from 13th to 10th or 9th and that would be genuine progress for me.
Where I do want us to really make our mark is in the cup competitions because I think we have a great chance in those and how you perform in them can make the difference between a good season and an average one.
We looked as though we might do it last season and it was gutting to go out to Aston Villa in the League Cup and Portsmouth in the FA Cup – both teams that reached their respective finals.
I want us to do better this time around.
Email to a friend
Print this page- Sunderland’s astonishing rise even surprising Martin O’Neill
- Sunderland striker Campbell fresh to face Middlesbrough
- Derby train wrecked
- Martin O’Neill defends David Meyler after criticism from Tony Pulis
- Middlesbrough 1 Sunderland 2 (aet): O’Neill relieved to avoid shoot-out lottery as Sessegnon wins it
- Sunderland striker Campbell fresh to face Middlesbrough
- Sunderland’s astonishing rise even surprising Martin O’Neill
- Middlesbrough 1 Sunderland 2 (aet): O’Neill relieved to avoid shoot-out lottery as Sessegnon wins it
- Martin O’Neill defends David Meyler after criticism from Tony Pulis
- Kieran Richardson says there is plenty more to come from James McClean
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sunderland
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -3 C to 2 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South west
