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.
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.