Naturally, the sky wasn't the limit. In the past ten years mid-table mediocrity has very much been the limit. But back then the future looked much brighter. Achieving Premier League survival the previous season with a good home record and plenty of late goals and drama had felt like a watershed moment for the club. We had proved we could compete in the top flight and laid the foundations to kick on.
Of course, I am looking back on this time period with rose tinted spectacles, during the Roy Keane era we spent a lot of money on players who either weren't fit for purpose or simply not good enough.
At the time however, there was a positive atmosphere around the club and the city. We had gone from signing the likes of Paul McShane and Greg Halford to Steed Malbranque and Djibril Cisse, the latter of whom would become an almost instant fans favourite.
As usual the fixture list was not kind to Sunderland and after a spirited opening day defeat at home to Liverpool, we made the trip to White Hart Lane where talk of Dimitar Berbatov's potential departure dominated the headlines.
The Bulgarian was left out of the side and his presence was clearly missed as the home side struggled to create chances in the first half and were lucky not to fall behind when Steed Malbranque hit the post.
Tottenham started the second half well however and Gareth Bale headed just over just after the restart. Despite this, it was Sunderland who took the lead when Kieran Richardson fired home from 25 yards.
But in true Sunderland fashion they didn't make it easy for themselves and Spurs enjoyed their best spell of the game with Johnathan Woodgate and Jermain Jenas heading wide of Craig Gordon's post.
With little under 20 minutes remaining Jenas finally equalized for Spurs and they looked the more likely of the two teams to go on and win the game. Djibril Cisse hadn't read the script however and with just seven minutes left he got on the end of a Daryl Murphy cross and sent the travelling Sunderland fans into raptures.
Despite, being largely ineffective from January onwards, Cisse scored some vital goals which played a huge part in that season's survival including two goals against the mags. This combined with outlandish hairstyles and elaborate celebrations made him something of a cult hero on Wearside.
As I said earlier in the article, the Roy Keane era ended in failure and he has since admitted he got his recruitment wrong that summer. But on that sunny August afternoon the world seemed a happier place as the away end saluted our former Champions League winning striker.
He loves his flashy underwear Cisse, Cisse
He loves designer facial hair Cisse, Cisse!
He scores a goal with half a chance we'll never send him back to France
Djibril Cisse, Sunlan's number 9!