Sunderland have the right man to in charge in Tony Mowbray to complement the club's transfer policy, according to former Black Cats striker Don Goodman.
There had been some speculation last summer that Mowbray's position was in jeopardy, despite leading the club to the Championship play-offs last season, in their first season back in the second tier. That came to nothing, of course, and he is once again guiding his young Sunderland side into the promotion picture this time around.
The Black Cats had another summer of recruitment focused on young, exciting players, such as Jobe Bellingham, and Goodman, who scored 40 goals for the club in a three-year spell on Wearside in the early 1990s, says there is no one better than Mowbray to help nurture that raw talent and develop them as players.
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"I was staggered to hear that his job was in doubt in the summer - I nearly fell off my chair," he told OLBG. "There's no smoke without fire, and you wonder where that's come from and if they were genuinely considering it. They didn't.
"If their choice to not sack Mowbray was accidental, then the owners have been very lucky. Sunderland's model is clear to see - they're developing young players. They'll have to sell a few along the way and move on to the next batch of players.
"Sunderland have some brilliant young players, and a young group like that can't be coached by anyone better than Tony. He did it at West Brom and Blackburn. He's brilliant with young players.
"Sunderland had to recover from the disappointment of last season, and them being sixth is a brilliant effort. They've lost Ross Stewart, and I stick to my assessment that if they had him for the whole of last season, they could be in the Premier League now.
"I think the current top four will stay the same until the end of the season, though perhaps not in that order. That means fifth and sixth are up for grabs, and Sunderland are in a genuine race with four or five other teams. Sunderland are in there, and for them to be so high up is a brilliant effort."
