The off-season: Sunderland

I'm in the middle of my lunch break right now, so excuse me if this entry seems a little truncated.

I reckon Sunderland were fortunate to survive last season. Roy Keane is a good motivator and coach but his prowess in the transfer market is a little less desired than most. He needs to make more astute signings over the next two months to consolidate the Black Cats' position in the Premier League.

GK: Craig Gordon, Darren Ward, Martin Fulop

Even though Gordon had a slippery patch last season, he's still considered the No. 1 at the Stadium of Light and most likely Ward will back him up. Fulop has been courted by many Championship clubs so he is most likely to leave.

RB: Phil Bardsley, Greg Halford

Roy Keane should cut his loss on Halford and just sell him instead of loaning him out. He doesn't need a back-up since he has many players who can also play in the right back role such as Whitehead & Nosworthy.

LB: Danny Collins

After letting Ian Harte go and playing a centre back in this position, Keano will need to get a left-back as one of his priorities.

CB: Nyron Nosworthy, Paul McShane, Danny Higginbotham, Russell Anderson

With Anderson most likely to go, I think Roy Keane should go an experienced centre-back to balance the back line.

WG: Carlos Edwards, Roy O'Donovan, Kieran Richardson, Ross Wallace

Keane has already stated Wallace can go, despite the fact he's not bad and versatile. With Richardson and Edwards spending most of last season in the treatment room, this is another area Keane needs more numbers in.

CM: Dickson Etuhu, Dean Whitehead, Liam Miller, Greg Leadbitter, Dwight Yorke, Andy Reid, Graham Kavanagh, Arnau Riera

Everybody knows Riera, Kavanagh and Miller have fallen out of favour with Keane. So you won't be expecting them to be at Sunderland in August.

FW: Anthony Stokes, Daryl Murphy, Michael Chopra, Kenwyne Jones, David Connolly, Martin Waghorn, Rade Prica

This is where Roy Keane has the most trouble with. He seems to buy hopeless strikers and even his best striker Jones has trouble scoring. I'm sure he will keep everybody apart from Connolly but I still think he needs another striker.

Summary

In: 1 x Centre-back, 1 x Left-back, 1 x Forward
Out: Fulop, Halford, Anderson, Wallace, Miller, Kavanagh, Riera, Connolly