In his time at the Academy of Light, the former Birmingham City man has overseen a radical overhaul of the club’s playing squad with the Wearsiders’ focusing on their academy, and buying young players to be nurtured and blooded in the first team.
It is a strategy that has produced results, with Speakman providing a squad that Alex Neil managed to brilliantly turn into promotion winners following Lee Johnson’s under-achievement.
However, with any recruitment strategy, there are pros and cons. Speakman has been criticised in some quarters for not providing Sunderland with enough depth, as evidenced by the injuries to Ross Stewart and the recall of Ellis Simms which left Tony Mowbray without any senior strikers for large parts of last season. Sunderland then failed to sign an experienced striker during the last January window.
Here, though, we drill down into every signing sanctioned by Speakman since his arrival at the club and rate them from one to ten.
41. Adil Aouchiche
The French attacking midfielder has shown real glimpses of quality during the early days of his Sunderland career and many fans are excited about him going forward into the second half of the season. 7/10 Photo: Ed Sykes
42. Eliezer Mayenda
Showed some promise during his very limited Sunderland career so far but has played primarily for the under-21s before going out on loan to Hibs. Not the striker Sunderland needed last January but a good prospect nonetheless. 5/10 Photo: Frank Reid
43. Leo Fuhr Hjelde
It is very early days in the former Leeds United man's Sunderland career but judged on the Middlesbrough game, Hjelde looks like he could be an smart signing. 7/10 Photo: FRANK REID
44. Romaine Mundle
Too early to say obviously as Mundle hasn't yet played for Sunderland but the signing will hopefully add another dimension and some depth to Sunderland's attack. N/A Photo: BRUNO FAHY