Phil West says...

At this point, I’m not unduly concerned about exactly how far along the line Sunderland’s summer rebuild is. Of course, there has been the usual smattering of tweets imploring the club to ‘SIGN SOME PLAYERS’ (it wouldn’t be a Sunderland offseason without that), but personally, I’m still reasonably relaxed about how things are progressing.

Fundamentally, this summer is one of the most crucial in the club’s recent history. With a fourth season in League One in prospect, and fan patience not in plentiful supply, it is imperative that the right moves are made to ensure that we arrive at the first game of the new season in peak shape.

I’m absolutely certain that Kristjaan Speakman and his colleagues will be working extremely hard to implement a transfer strategy that strengthens the team in the right areas, and ensures that the players we sign are the right fit for the club. The days of sticking-plaster panic buys & underwhelming free agent deals have to become a thing of the past.

I’m viewing our summer transfer business as a three-stage process. The news that prospects like Ellis Taylor and Anthony Patterson have signed new contracts is an encouraging development. The second stage will be to reach a decision on the futures of the out-of-contact quartet of McGeady, Hume, O’Nien & Wyke. The final stage will be to recruit quality players from elsewhere, ensuring that the squad’s depth and overall quality is good enough by the end of the window.

Call me stubborn or blinkered, but I refuse to believe that Sunderland AFC is not an attractive proposition for players, and I hope that any potential signings recognise the immense potential of the club, particularly under our new ownership, and what a fabulous opportunity it could be for them. We have to find that middle ground between moving swiftly in the transfer market, and not recruiting on a whim without due care. I feel very confident that will be the case this summer.

Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images

---

Michael Dunne says...

There’s nothing we can do but trust that the club's owner, director and head coach know what they are doing. Just because we have not signed anyone yet does not mean that we are struggling to sign people.

Lots of clubs in the league are signing players from fellow EFL teams. That gives me the impression that we are widening our search and I wouldn’t be surprised if many of our signings this summer are unfamiliar in name and bought from unfamiliar environments.

I would envisage you would see an increase in activity as we get closer to July and then things will start to speed up. It is imperative that we get off to a good start this season and thus, it would be ideal to get our signings in as quick as possible.

The only issue with the lack of early signings is that we are all lacking some SAFC news and excitement. Thank god for the Euros!

Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images

---

Malc Dugdale says...

My view on this is we are operating in a totally new way, using data and analysis to go for the target team we want to formulate, identifying and hiring players to meet the requirements.

This isn’t Moyes tapping up half the old Everton squad that used to play for him when he was a decent manager, or our owner overspending on someone with a good reputation based solely on that, hoping it will work when it may (or in our case probably will not) pay dividends.

I remain calm as I feel we have to allow these lads to do what we have asked them to do, and do it properly for once. Give them space for the process and we will hopefully get the results we need, namely a team that can build into a promotion-winning side.

If people are getting et impatient already, they need to calm down and remember the great results we have had in the past without these new techniques and technology.

If Speakman, Johnson and co get through most of the transfer window and we hire what they feel we need, and he then fails to get us out of the blocks and challenging then fair enough, give the hiring team hassle.

For now we need to listen to Lord Kitchener, and “Keep calm, keep analysing, and hire smart”. Please let’s hire smart, for once at least. Everything comes to those who wait.

Photo by Mark Fletcher/MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images