Takeover talk, free agent signings and those Jay Spearing rumours: Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC Q&A

From ongoing uncertainty over the club’s ownership to concerns over the academy, supporters have plenty of questions about the current state of play at Sunderland AFC.

Here, our Sunderland AFC writer Phil Smith answers your burning questions – which supporters submitted via our breaking news WhatsApp service and social media:

Why not use Kevin Ball as manager for the academy?

The thought had absolutely crossed my mind.

There are rules in place in terms of the process academies have to go through when making these appointments, which is absolutely right.

It’s of course hard to make a judgement without knowing who is going to put themselves forward.

But if you were asking me what I think the key priorities or skills for the role are, I think Kevin Ball fits the bill.

While Sunderland are in League One, they are not going to be able to compete financially with other Category One clubs.

So an absolutely central part of the role of the academy manager will be to build strong relationships with players, parents and agents, to make them feel as if their future is at Sunderland even if the financial benefits are bigger elsewhere.

That’s going to take a lot of energy, charisma, care and dedication.

It’s a 24/7 job so hiring someone so deeply connected and engaged with the club seems like a good place to start.

I think one of the better things the academy has done in the last couple of years is be more pro-active in securing good loan moves for youngsters.

Kevin Ball looks after that and seems to have done an excellent job.

Obviously, I’ve no idea whether it’s something Kevin Ball would actually want and at this stage, we don’t know who else will be in consideration and what skills they could offer.

Broadly, though, I think that kind of personality is exactly what’s needed.

Do you know when the EFL will announce the start date for next season? Until this date is announced clubs can't prepare fully or really start to make progress in the transfer market. Also will it be by a vote or will the EFL give the clubs a strict start date?

You’ve raised a very good question that I don’t think there is an answer to just yet.

I noticed earlier this week that Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony has urged EFL chair Rick Parry to set the date and I have to say, I think he’s absolutely right.

As we saw over the votes to end last season, there are too many conflicting interests at play to leave it up to the clubs.

There seems to be a genuine optimism around the September 12th date that the EFL have put forward, but with the heavy caveat that it is alongside some fans being allowed into the ground.

We will need some sort of decisive decision from the EFL soon if we’re going to hit that date.

Given the fact most clubs won’t have played since March, squads will have to be in training by the start of August at the latest to ensure an adequate pre-season.

Why are the owners staying quiet?

I do think there are some parallels with the latter years of the Ellis Short era, when communication was left mostly in the hands of then chief executive Martin Bain.

Clearly, Stewart Donald is still active in the club’s decision making, but it does feel there is something of a withdrawal now that we all know a sale, at some stage, is the desired outcome for everyone.

Donald said in early April that he and Charlie Methven would like to stay on in some capacity, but I think everything that has happened since then has surely made that just about impossible.

The picture is concerning because those late Short years underlined how difficult it is to make good footballing decisions and implement good structures in that climate of uncertainty and dwindling investment.

We haven’t had anywhere near enough of that in the last two years anyway.

I wrote a (very, probably too) long column on this subject yesterday, if of interest.

There's very little to be positive about with current ownership. However, I can't help but think others might tumble harder than us as a result of the pandemic. Your thoughts?

I think that the government furlough scheme clearly has a bigger impact for other clubs, who can recoup a higher portion of their footballing and non-footballing salaries.

If football was to return in front of limited crowds, then that’s something which would clearly allow Sunderland to bring in more money than most of their rivals, given the size of the stadium etc.

They also, of course, have bigger cost bases than most and so the decline in revenue is a major issue.

Jim Rodwell has insisted that the ownership have the will and means to fund the club through the current crisis, but it has also been abundantly clear from a number of decisions that protecting cashflow has and continues to be a concern.

It’s a hugely uncertain time for all football clubs.

Phil. Is there anything, literally any piece of good news you can tell us?

Someone is going to get it right, at some stage...

With the likes of Gnanduillet, Maddison & Heneghan among others all available for free, why don’t Sunderland seem interested in tying these deals down? Considering we’ve just let a host of players, including Watmore, leave the club.

They’ll be well aware of all of those players, no doubt.

You would always want to see Sunderland being decisive and I did detect a little bit of a nudge to the hierarchy in Phil Parkinson’s comments on what he needs last week.

I think, in fairness, if you look across the board, nobody is really doing any business.

The completed deals have very much been isolated cases.

When I caught up with Ethan Robson, he made the point that while a lot of clubs are discussing their interests with him, he doesn’t expect things to move significantly until a restart date is set in stone.

Adding to the uncertainty is the pending decision on salary caps, which is likely to take place later this month.

In Sunderland’s case, they could suddenly be faced with a challenge of getting their wage bill down to £2.5 million. They’re already comfortably above that and still have seven or eight players to recruit.

The original proposals sent out by the EFL to clubs include transitional arrangements, but we still can’t be sure what will eventually be voted on/approved.

So I think we do have to consider the caveats when we discuss the lack of progress in recruitment so far.

For sure, though, Sunderland have fallen short twice now and so while the core of the side is in place, we need to see an uplift in quality if the team is to get over the line.

The names mentioned there are certainly of the calibre we’re talking about.

The only thing I would perhaps say is that attacking midfield isn’t an area I’m too concerned about at the moment. The output from there over a period of time has been pretty good and I’d like to see Elliot Embleton get a proper chance to impress.

Jack Diamond, too, although I don’t think you could have too many complaints if he was to go back out on loan, given how well he’s done at Harrogate.

Do you think we could see Sunderland use the loan market more next season? Surely there are some good young players from the Premier League we could target?

It’s one the many areas that Sunderland could definitely improve in when it comes to recruitment.

There haven’t really been too many who have come in loan and made a major impression in the last three seasons.

It’s certainly an area where some clubs have managed to gain a bit of an advantage.

More broadly, I think loans are going to be absolutely key for all EFL clubs moving forward, particularly if we do see salary caps and rules limited squad sizes come in.

I think that will mean clubs have to look to the loan system, even more than they currently do.

What does David Jones actually do at Sunderland?

He’s there to challenge/advise on footballing matters, at board meetings and more generally.

He has other commitments of course but I do think he could have been utilised far more (I’m not sure the season card debacle would have happened with his input, for example).

I think it’s a tricky role.

He is putting his reputation on the line to try and improve things but of course, the direction of the club, the investment and the ultimate decision-making power rests with the ownership.

He said from day one that he would only do it so long as he could genuinely make a difference.

Given everything that’s gone on, I totally get the scepticism.

My personal view is that I would rather have someone with the club at heart trying to make things better, who has an understanding of why things like recruitment have gone wrong over a long period of time.

Clearly, it’s only useful so long as there is a willingness to act and listen.

Do you think Donald will sell the club before next season?

My own view is that it feels unlikely in the current climate.

There is a lot of talk and no doubt plenty of interest, but indications from club sources have not left me with much of an impression that there is much going on at an advanced stage.

The golden rule with takeovers though is that you tend not to hear about the ones that actually happen, so let’s see.

Thoughts on Jay Spearing rumours?

My conversations have left me with the impression that there isn’t much in that.

We’ll see, but I don’t think central midfield is a priority at this stage. Parkinson already has four, two of which were very clearly his first-choice pairing for the system he wants to play.

I’d also imagine he’ll be keen to get a lot more football out of Josh Scowen next season, too.

I completely understood the reaction to the Spearing rumours from concerned supporters, and that is absolutely no slight on Spearing.

He’s a proven, experienced midfielder who has a very good record and has always looked good against the Black Cats.

If Sunderland are to get another midfielder, though, my view would be that it needs to be of a different profile to what they already have.

Someone with a track record of getting assists, who can carry the ball and even get past the front three into the box.

I had a question this morning about Scott Fraser, who is a free agent after leaving Burton Albion.

If Sunderland were to sign another central midfielder, that’s more the profile I’d be looking at.