Well, that depends on what you consider a successful transfer window. Look at the previous three transfer windows along with this one and you will notice a pattern emerging.
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| Steve Bruce signed a new team but was sacked in November 2011. |
With Steve Bruce at the helm prior to the 11/12 season, we signed a whole team and, while some of the players were actually decent or better, it took them a while to gel together.
The following season we had a different manager in Martin O'Neill, where we signed Carlos Cuellar, Louis Saha, Steven Fletcher, Adam Johnson and Danny Rose.
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| Fan favourite Martin O'Neill couldn't build on his early success at Sunderland and was sacked in March 2013. |
The season after that we had the one-time guilty pleasure Paolo Di Canio. But Roberto De Fanti brought in 14 new players including Fabio Borini, Vito Mannone, Emanuele Giaccherini and Ki Sung Yeung.
And now look at Gus Poyet's first summer transfer window, where we have signed Billy Jones, Jordi Gomez and Costel Pantilimon all on a free as well as former Chelsea left-back Patrick van Aanholt.
You notice the pattern? We either don't make enough signings in the search for quality or we settle for quantity and hope that will be enough.
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| Paolo Di Canio knee-slid his way to lose manager's job after five games into the 13/14 season with 14 new players unable to gel. |
Either way, Sunderland have never looked healthy for the start of the new Premier League season. More often than not, we have a poor start and end up playing catch up further on in the season.
That is essential to the 2014/15 season; Sunderland MUST start reasonably well and not have to wait four or five games in for their first win.
West Brom away is realistically the best (and coincidentally first) chance to pick up three points, for a visit from a new-look Manchester United and a trip to newly-promoted Queens Park Rangers are two very tough assignments.
Any of the newly promoted teams are always hard to play against at the start of the season as they always have a point to prove. Sunderland haven't faired well when facing a side with the fresh buzz of sealing promotion early into the Premier League campaign.
But back to transfers, as Chris Young, SAFC writer for the Sunderland Echo, puts it, we must get it right this time.
For me, Sunderland desperately need at least one or two strikers, a left-sided midfielder, a creative midfielder, another centre back and another full-back wouldn't go a miss either.
Players including Santiago Vergini, Samuel Eto'o Jordan Mutch, Jack Rodwell, Danny Welbeck and Fabio Borini have been mentioned in the fold of potential arrivals on Wearside.
Mutch, one of the bright lights in Cardiff's bleak season, looks like he is going to QPR. I am disappointed a little, but we should surely have better ambition than this.
According SkyBet and SkySports, Rodwell is looking increasingly likely to join Sunderland for a fee in the region of £10m.
People straight away will question the price tag but, to be honest, I'd much rather Sunderland show some ambition and pay that fee for him than loan him. We shouldn't be a stepping stone club for loan players to then go and never see us again. We should be aiming to make ourselves better, not make players better for other clubs.
Borini would be another great edition if we sign him and for that I will wait and see what will unfold.
Welbeck would suit Sunderland perfectly. He was on loan with us in 10/11 and he has the pace for the Premier League as well a good work rate.
Eto'o is hit-and-miss for me in terms of likelihood but for free, I would take a striker who, at 32 years-old, proved he could score for Chelsea.
But, back to the original question, should Sunderland fans be worried by the lack of transfers?
To me, the answer is no but others will inevitably have a different opinion. Last season, we got quantity over quality, they took ages to settle in and we paid an early price for it.
This season, if we sign Premier League quality with some experience, then this season can be a good one. Mid-table comfort would be nice for a change, which is where we really should at this moment, not constantly fighting at the bottom.
I'm not desperately worried just yet, but three or four new players by the curtain opener at West Brom would be a big help to Sunderland's start to the season.
Players including Santiago Vergini, Samuel Eto'o Jordan Mutch, Jack Rodwell, Danny Welbeck and Fabio Borini have been mentioned in the fold of potential arrivals on Wearside.
Mutch, one of the bright lights in Cardiff's bleak season, looks like he is going to QPR. I am disappointed a little, but we should surely have better ambition than this.
According SkyBet and SkySports, Rodwell is looking increasingly likely to join Sunderland for a fee in the region of £10m.
People straight away will question the price tag but, to be honest, I'd much rather Sunderland show some ambition and pay that fee for him than loan him. We shouldn't be a stepping stone club for loan players to then go and never see us again. We should be aiming to make ourselves better, not make players better for other clubs.
Borini would be another great edition if we sign him and for that I will wait and see what will unfold.
Welbeck would suit Sunderland perfectly. He was on loan with us in 10/11 and he has the pace for the Premier League as well a good work rate.
Eto'o is hit-and-miss for me in terms of likelihood but for free, I would take a striker who, at 32 years-old, proved he could score for Chelsea.
But, back to the original question, should Sunderland fans be worried by the lack of transfers?
To me, the answer is no but others will inevitably have a different opinion. Last season, we got quantity over quality, they took ages to settle in and we paid an early price for it.
This season, if we sign Premier League quality with some experience, then this season can be a good one. Mid-table comfort would be nice for a change, which is where we really should at this moment, not constantly fighting at the bottom.
I'm not desperately worried just yet, but three or four new players by the curtain opener at West Brom would be a big help to Sunderland's start to the season.
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