The dust may have settled on Sunderland's 2022-23 campaign a fortnight ago but the 2023-24 Championship line-up has finally been confirmed. Leeds United, Leicester City and Southampton will return to the second tier of English football, while Ipswich Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Plymouth Argyle have won promotion from League One.
All six clubs will undertake big rebuilds, with the recently relegated Premier League sides benefitting from a huge financial windfall of parachute payments. Watford and Norwich City will also benefit from their relegation in 21/22, making the battle for promotion that little bit harder come next season.
The Black Cats clinched a play-off spot on the final day of the season but have lost key man Amad Diallo and face a battle to keep a number of their younger players at the club. The likes of Anthony Patterson and Jack Clarke have been linked with a move away from Wearside, while there's also suggestions Patrick Roberts is attracting interest after an impressive season in red and white.
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The sheer size of the clubs coming down from the top flight are enough to pose big problems for clubs in the second tier next season, albeit all three face managerial decisions and squad overhauls following their relegations. Leicester come down having won the Premier League, FA Cup and Community Shield in recent seasons, but face a huge rebuild to offload some big earners, while Leeds United aren't in the same financial mess from their last relegation from the top flight.
The jury remains out on Southampton who have admitted they'll have to restructure the club following relegation, but all three relegated clubs are tipped to be up there for next season - prior to any signings or departures. Sunderland - who remain a big club in their own right but have come from the lowly depths of League One - have already shown they can box clever and they'll need another summer of doing just that.
All three relegated Premier League sides are set for revenues in the region of £100million, according to financial expert Kieran Maguire. Staggering figures that the Black Cats simply cannot compete with at this stage of their rebuild.
Consolidation was at the forefront of supporter's minds heading into last season, but a taste of play-off football will only entice supporters into wanting more. Yes, last season was an over performance when you look at Sunderland's big picture, but performances on the pitch warranted that high finish and there's no reason the club can't kick on again.
"I've said before that I didn't feel that promotion was the primary objective this year, it was to sustain ourselves in this division and to make sure that we weren't looking over our shoulders," Tony Mowbray said earlier this season. "Then with some transfer windows we need to bring in the kind of quality players that will make everybody think 'whoa, they should be getting promotion with that team'. Let's see if we can keep recruiting well.
"We're going in the right direction, we're on the right road, let's keep trying to strengthen and bring quality players in the system. We want to get to the point where the fanbase aren't just happy with nice football, they want us to get promoted and they look at the squad and the teams around us and expect us to get promoted.
"Of course that brings pressure as a head coach but somewhere down the line, that's where we need to be."
Last season Sunderland had a youthful and fearless swagger heading into games against the likes of Sheffield United and Burnley as the underdog, but weren't completely blown away. The top two sides in the division would win promotion, but Mowbray's men ran them close.
The next step in the club's journey is to move away from that underdog approach, as highlighted by Mowbray at the end of the season. "As a coach, it's alright having a team that is, not so much the underdog, but that nobody expected [to be up there]," he said.
"It's also alright sometimes to be the team that everybody expects [to be promoted] because you've got the best players, you've paid the most money, you've got the biggest crowds, the best stadium, so you should be getting promoted. Somewhere down the line, that's where we need to be."
There's plenty of optimism given the impressive finish to last season, but supporters are right to remain grounded and see how the summer window pans out - as they are doing.
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