Sunderland's Mr Fixit's spell on Wearside, the board…

Sunderland's Mr Fixit's spell on Wearside, the board assembles, and why the grass really is greener

Every overseas trip needs a 'fixer' - someone with the contacts and the knowhow to look after the local logistics. Whether it's organising transport, checking arrangements for training, picking people up from the airport, or sorting out tickets, they are the ones who do the legwork that allows club staff to concentrate on the pre-season preparations.

And the man with his phone permanently glued to his ear acting as fixer for Sunderland's week-long training camp in Portugal is no stranger to Wearside - although award yourself a gold star if you saw him play! Ex-goalkeeper Brian Horne spent a loan spell with the Black Cats back in 1992, although he does not feature in the record books because he didn't make a first-team appearance for the club, although he did turn out for the reserves.

Horne has fond memories of his stay at Sunderland under Malcolm Crosby, and training alongside players including Gary Owers, Gary Bennett, Kevin Ball, and goalkeepers Tony Norman, and the late Tim Carter. But 54-year-old Horne is better known for his seven-year stay at Milwall in the 1980s and early 1990s, when he was a teammate of, and later played under, future Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy.

He also had loan stays at Stoke City and Middlesbrough, before moving to Hartlepool for the final two years of his professional career, and then dropping into non-league football. More recently, Horne has been working with ex-Sunderland midfielder Stefan Schwarz with the duo organising the Atlantic Cup out here in Portugal, with teams from across Europe and Scandinavia using the competition to as part of their pre-season preparations.

Sartori at training

Sunderland shareholder Juan Sartori was at training this morning, sitting in the dugout watching as Alex Neil put his players through their paces. Sartori, who increased his stake in the club to 30 percent over the summer, took a 12-hour flight from Uruguay to Madrid before continuing on to Portugal.

He is here to watch Sunderland's games, but also to meet up with majority shareholder Kyril Louis-Dreyfus - who also arrived in Albufeira today, but did not head for training - at a scheduled board meeting.

Stadium improvements

Sunderland fans who visited the Estadio Municipal de Albufeira - venue for the Black Cats' games against Rangers tomorrow and Roma on Wednesday - during the club's previous trips to Portugal will notice a huge improvement in the quality of the pitch. The playing surface is lush and green, a far cry from the conditions that greeted Jack Ross' side were here back in 2019.

Credit for that should go to ex-Liverpool groundsman David Roberts who is now looking after the pitch out here, having left Anfield late last year and relocated out to Portugal. He decided that he 'wanted to get his hands dirty again' and brought his expertise to the Algarve - and the pitch in Albufeira looks all the better for it.

Bird's-eye view

I took some stick from the backroom staff for yesterday's highlighting kitman Steve Aziz's luggage troubles. So today it's head of performance analysis Mark Boddy's turn in the spotlight.

'Bodser' was the man operating the drone flying above the pitch as the team trained on the eve of the Rangers game, providing the coaches with a birdseye view of the players' efforts. But a seagull took a shine to Bodser's drone, and the Sunderland players took a breather from set-piece training to watch in fascination as bird and machine fought for aerial supremacy. Thankfully, it was not a duel to the death and the bird retired unhurt and the drone returned unscathed.

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