This Sunderland signing has shone but the jury remains out on the rest as window closes

With the transfer window shut now, there can be no more incomings or outgoings, at least until January, so Jack Ross can now work with his squad accordingly.
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Sunderland have had a fairly busy window, with six new signings at the time of writing and plenty going out the door including big earners Lee Cattermole and Bryan Oviedo and last year’s captain George Honeyman.

So now we have to wait and see if Sunderland’s business has been successful but it won’t stop us speculating and making early assessments of the new players, even though they have barely had time to settle yet and get their bearings and I am as guilty of snap judgements as anyone.

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Sunderland are a League One club now and for me player recruitment is as guilty as anything for the reason Sunderland have sunk so low.

Jack Ross pictured during the 3-0 defeat against Peterborough United.Jack Ross pictured during the 3-0 defeat against Peterborough United.
Jack Ross pictured during the 3-0 defeat against Peterborough United.

Certainly in the struggling Premier League years and the disastrous Championship campaign, far too many players have been signed who never fit in or just weren’t good enough but left Wearside considerably richer and we are still paying the price of that today.

There are signs that over the last year or so, that recruitment has improved and last year’s top two performers Aiden McGeady and Jon McLaughlin are the sort of signing that this year’s new recruits should be looking to emulate.

Over many years I have seen some players start their Sunderland careers well but fade away, others have taken a while to settle but turn into unlikely heroes and others who it just never worked from start to finish, there’s no set formula - every player is different.

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So saying all that, of this year’s new recruits, Jordan Willis has impressed me the most, he has brought badly needed pace to the back four, looks a natural leader, he could turn out to be a shrewd signing.

Of the others, the jury is still out, but nothing would please me more than for every one of them to become heroes on Wearside as they hopefully drive their new club to promotion.