Cats recruitment number one priority for Speakman
of our decision making processes for the summer and the next window."
Speakmanhasbeentasked with implementing a longterm vision for the club believed to be closely associated withKyrilLouis-Dreyfus,who is waiting for EFL approval to assume a majority shareholding in the club.
Nevertheless, Speakman believestheBlackCatsremain in contention for promotion this season and says that very much remains the goal.
"Sunderland can't ever have any other ambition than getting into the top two," he said.
"So I'm never going to sit in any meeting and suggest we lower our standards any less than that. I see the team gettingbetterfromweektoweek, we need to see some greater consistency in results, that's fairly obvious and I think everyone would say that.
"But we've just managed to makesomeadjustmentstoour squad and I think we're better for it. From here on in, it's just overtotheguystotryanddoit. I don't see why we should ever drop our ambitions."