48 hours of SAFC turmoil
There’s never a dull day at Sunderland AFC.
With news of the club extending their usage of the furlough scheme and the sudden departure of Academy manager Paul Reid, fans have plenty of questions about the direction of travel at the Academy of Light.
Here, chief Sunderland AFC writer Phil Smith answers your questions after another dramatic couple of days:
Q: Do you think they will be looking to appoint someone with more experience as Academy manager or do you think we are going to get rid of our Academy status as Cat 1?
The news has understandably led to concern amongst supporters and it’s little wonder.
We’ve seen a lot of talented academy products leave over the last two years, with Bali Mumba certain to be next.
We’ve seen a raft of players released in recent weeks, leaving the Under-18 and Under-23 squads very thin.
All of this has seen many understandably worry about what’s next and whether Reid’s departure is the sign of more to come.
We’ll have to wait and see, to an extent, but I can say my understanding from conversations is that the club will replace Reid, and that they are running the process of doing so.
I’m also told that there is, at this stage, no plans to lose Category One status.
Of course, we know that CEO Jim Rodwell told fan groups at a recent meeting that while there are no plans to scale back, ‘all options will have to be considered’.
What we can say is that Reid’s departure is not directly linked to any such plans.
I absolutely agree that his replacement needs to be someone of experience and with a track record of success in this field.
It’s an enormous rebuilding job that is going to require immense expertise, leadership, energy and a vast contacts book.
As many have also rightly pointed out to me on social media, anyone who takes the job will also need investment and support from the ownership, or they will have no chance of succeeding.
Whether they get it is of course the million-dollar question.
Q: Is our Academy in jeopardy now of losing its Category One status and what would that mean?
Not an easy one to answer and so it’s probably best to split it into two: the short and long term.
Sunderland retained its Category One status in February, and this is done on a three-year cycle.
That clearly was a big boost for the academy (and testament to the fact that despite all the challenges, there are still some brilliant staff doing superb things there).
It is, though, a status that is regularly reviewed and so there can be no resting on your laurels.
The club say they want to retain that status.
In the long term, is the Academy in jeopardy of losing Category One status?
Well, my own view on it would be that it is absolutely not sustainable to maintain it while the results in the U18 and U23 set up are so poor.
I don’t think it is sustainable while so many top talents are lost once they reach the age where they can sign professional terms elsewhere.
There are also some well funded, ambitious teams pushing for Category One status in the next few years (Leeds and Crystal Palace are two examples off the top of my head).
Are the ownership committed to competing with these outfits?
In the short term, that requires significant investment in the U18 and U23 set up.
It’s my understanding that the recruitment team (now led by Ged McNamee who returned this year) have targets lined up and so it’ll be interesting to see how they are backed.
In the long term, it means stopping the talent drain and taking a longer term view on what these players are and could be worth.
Given how things have gone over the last year or so, I can understand why fans have lost faith in that happening.
Another point stressing is that more generally, Category One academies are not built for clubs in League One. Two things I’d stress here. One, is that the club needs to get out of this division; the Academy needs the first team to succeed.
Secondly, given that Sunderland has had a Category One Academy in League One for two years, is the pathway strong enough to the first team?
I’m not sure, and the players lost in the last two years are only separating the two further.
That needs to change.
Q: Could the recent events be Jim Rodwell flexing his muscles as recently appointed CEO and looking to employ the right people into integral roles at the club or could it be a major cost cutting/mothballing exercise which will have huge ramifications for the club for years to come?
Could it be a bit of both? As I’ve said, my understanding is that Reid will be replaced and so it’s not part of a mothballing or downgrading process at this point.
As we have said many times, however, the club has not been set up in the last two years for success.
While the cost base has come down considerably, there is a lot that now needs to be rebuilt.
Only the ownership can really make that happen.
Q: Not related to any of the main news, but any sign of the new kits?
I’ll try and get an update on this as soon as I can.
Nike’s contract appears to have started, though. You can see they’ve replaced Adidas on the sponsors section of the website, as well as across the club’s branding.
So the wheels look to be in motion on that one at least.