How Sunderland fans feel about Kristjaan Speakman, Stuart Harvey and transfer structure

The latest Sunderland AFC-related news, gossip and rumours from around the web as we approach the summer transfer window.
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Sunderland fans have made their feelings clear on sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, head of recruitment Stuart Harvey and the club's transfer model in a series of polls conducted by The Echo.

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The Black Cats finished sixth in the second tier before losing to Luton in the play-offs and narrowly missing out on another trip to Wembley.

Speakman joined Sunderland midway through the 2020-21 season with Harvey not far behind him following Kyril Louis-Dreyfus' involvement and eventual majority ownership of Sunderland.

A radical overhaul of the recruitment policy has followed with the Black Cats prioritising talented young players and breathing new life into the Academy of Light whilst creating a clear pathway from the youth sides to the first team.

There have been some missteps along the way for Speakman, Harvey and the club's decision-makers but on the whole, Sunderland fans appear happy with the job that has been done with Sunderland now a top-six Championship side after languishing in League One for so long.

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The Echo asked fans in our end-of-season survey, in which over 1,000 supporters participated: Are you happy with the current structure of your club in terms of who takes care of the transfer business? 89.1 per cent responded yes with just 10.9 per cent responding no.

We also asked supporters to rate the transfer business done by Kristjaan Speakman and Stuart Harvey the transfer team. 7.4 per cent responded below average. 56.2 per cent said above average with 36.3 per cent replying that the work done had been outstanding.

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