Lee Johnson reacts to 'huge' Sunderland appointment and his first discussions with Stuart Harvey

Harvey's appointment was confirmed by Sunderland on Monday after he was headhunted from a similar role at Blackburn Rovers.

The Northern Irishman will be tasked with overseeing the rebuild of Sunderland's recruitment structures, and building a database of potential targets who have the capacity to fit into Johnson's playing philosophy.

Johnson says he has been impressed with Harvey's work ethic and says that if Sunderland were to achieve their goal of winning promotion this season, then his knowledge of the market could prove to be crucial.

"My initial impressions of him are that he's got that intensity to go the extra mile, which I think is really important," Johnson said.

"That's not always the case in that role.

"He's certainly a worker and that's the most important thing.

"We've had a lot of conversations already, even though he hasn't been here long, in terms of the individual profiles in any position.

"He's got a good understanding of the philosophy. I had a lot of this anyway as when I was out of work, I had that five months to be able to build that so I could present it pretty clearly to anybody so there's no time or money wasted.

"I think he's got that experience of that market, as well, which is really important.

"Touch wood and pray to God, if we were to get promoted then it'd probably be a similar type of market that we'd be operating in.

"I'm sure from his perspective he's seen the potential of the football club, as I did, and where you could take it."

Harvey will form a key part of the club's recruitment decision making, alongside Johnson and Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman.

Speakman has said previously that all final decisions will be made by Johnson, and the head coach says that the support structures in place will be essential.

"It's such a huge appointment, really, anybody in that role," he said.

"I was a part of the process towards the back end which was something that I enjoyed, it was good to give my thoughts and feelings on it.

"It's important you get your recruitment right and I think the way it works nowadays, it's a lot more collective than it used to be.

"When it was my Dad at Bristol City for example, it was probably him and the Chairman that made the decision.

"Nowadays, there's a lot more input from data analysts, data scientists, your head of recruitment, the scouts. It's almost more like a committee.

"The final nod will always go to the owner financially and the manager in terms of talent ID, that won't change and any bad one can still be pinned on me! Don't worry about that.

"But at the same time you have to very open to individual skillsets within the structure of the organisation."

WIth a number of senior players set to see their contract expire this summer, the Black Cats are set for a significant rebuild regardless of what division they are playing in.

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