Fan Letters: Are you worried about Sunderland’s lack of transfer activity so far this summer?

Dear Roker Report,

Big earners should go?

What an embarrassment - Lee Cattermole has been one our best players over last 10 years.

Yes, that’s right - the club has had nothing in that time from most players in regards to loyalty, such as Darren Bent, Gyan, Ndong, Kone, Khazri and Djilobodji (who have cost many more millions than Catermole) or people left when we got relegated (Defoe, who vanished into thin air and cannot get into England’s side now).

Could that journalist name a better midfield player than Catermole who was at the club during that 10 years? I have always been his fan; the way he organises players who are out of position. I think without Catermole we wouldn’t have reached the play off this year. His goals have been very important and at one stage he was our highest goal scorer (when Maja left). He has been more inspiring than Honeyman.

I will be looking forward to Cattermole’s testimonial after playing for the club for 10 years - loyalty, which I think he deserves. Yes, we have many midfield players with the same quality, but that’s not his fault as failed transfers have left us out of pocket and relegated.

Michael Hirst

Ed’s Note [Gav]: For me it’s all about pounds and pennies - it’s unfathomable that a club who play third tier football should be paying anyone FORTY THOUSAND POUNDS a week. I’d hazard that there are clubs in League One who probably don’t pay much more than forty grand a week out to their entire squad, never mind one player.

I like Cattermole and think he’d be valuable to us next season if he stayed, but now is quite obviously the time for him to leave. It would have been easier to shoulder the burden of his wages next season had we got promoted, but we didn’t and we have to be sensible. With the money he’s taking up in wages (and Oviedo and Watmore for that matter) we could find replacements who are not only more durable, but cost us a lot less and are younger.

I think that makes perfect business sense and I would imagine that ‘the club’ are thinking along the same lines, for as well as Cattermole has done at Sunderland he’s still costing us a lot of money, money that we really cannot afford to pay out to a player who has very few miles left in the tank.

Photo by Deniz Calagan/Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

Yet again a slow start for the lads in the transfer merry go round - let’s get the business done early for a change, or clubs and agents will hold the club to ransom for players.

Doncaster have quoted a million for Marquis - no way, stay away, he’s not even worth half that. The team needs pace and strength and the midfield needs a flair player - we have too many similar players in that position. I think signing Downing would be a step backwards; another has been not worth the risk.

Jack Ross also has to get the loan signings right. Last season the loan signings did not have the impact on the squad he wanted, on the whole they were poor.

Lets get it sorted - here’s to a great season. Come on the Lads.

Mark Wild

Ed’s Note [Gav]: Until the paperwork for the new ownership takeover is done it’s pretty much impossible for us to press ahead with actually signing anyone. Once that is done, however, the EFL process will be a formality, which will allow the incoming recruitment team headed up by John Park to press ahead with offering contracts to the various free agents they likely have lined up.

I’ll be a lot more worried if we are still sat here one week from now not knowing whether the ownership change has gone through or not. As most free agents don’t actually become free agents until the end of June it’s not so much of a worry now, but once they’re free and able to sign up elsewhere it’s a lot harder to navigate the choppy waters of the free agent market.