As the 2024-25 EFL Championship season is set to get under way, we take our opportunity to make ourselves look like complete idiots as we attempt the impossible task of correctly predicting how Sunderland’s season will unfold.

If you want to see how wrong we have been before, here’s how we’ve predicted previous seasons (Isaac Lihadji the one to watch a mere two weeks before leaving the club was a high point).

• The 2023-24 Wise Men Say predictions for Sunderland
• The Wise Men Say 22-23 Season Predictions
• The Wise Men Say 21-22 Season Predictions
• Presenting Our Wise Men Say 20-21 Predictions

TOM WALSH

After finishing the 2023/24 season on such a high (two wins in 16 matches), it was clear Sunderland AFC ownership really needed to capitalise on the feel good factor around the Stadium of Light. Luckily, they’ve delivered the key signing for the 2024/25 campaign – Hummel. Fans queued around the block to get their hands on the coveted “modern retro” shirts with some eager to show them off while burning down a Citizens Advice Bureau.

Hmm, what? The football? Oh right.

After spending well over 100 days without a permanent manager, we’ve spun the wheel and landed on former Lorient boss, Regis Le Bris as the man to attempt to get the best out a young, inexperienced squad. Despite promises of major investment, at the time of writing Sunderland have only brought in four free transfers.

The signings of experienced midfielder Alan Browne and winger Ian Poveda do make sense, while the addition of back-up ‘keeper Simon Moore will at least provide some competition to Anthony Patterson. We have so far managed to keep hold of key players like Jack Clarke and Dan Neil, while Dan Ballard signing a new deal is very encouraging.

Once again, however, we start a Championship season without a proper centre forward. Eliezer Mayenda seems to be who Le Bris will opt for in the first game against Cardiff City but, as witnessed last season, he’s very raw and will have a hard time against seasoned Championship defenders.

For us to be even mildly successful this season, we still need reinforcements up front, in midfield and in defence while the likes of Patrick Roberts, Romaine Mundle and Adil Aouchiche need to step up and find consistency. Without this, Le Bris is going to encounter the same problems Messrs Mowbray and Beale found out and we’ll be in for a very long, dull season.

Still, the shirts look nice?

Predicted finish: 12th
Player to watch: Dan Neil (unless he’s sold)

MATT KEELING

Oh good, The Championship is back. A matter of weeks after England performed abysmally at the Euros, we get to enjoy more crushing disappointment as our beloved Sunderland return.

A very quiet summer transfer window has been quiet and has thus far failed to produce a centre forward. The protracted saga of Alexandre Mendy has been rather tragic and now it looks like he won’t be coming, the baseless claims that Eliezer Mayenda will be fine anyway have started. Talented? Sure. Ready? Absolutely not.

Alan Browne has arrived from Preston in what looks like a shrewd move and Ian Poveda’s signing is a decent one too. That’s kind of it though. We needed a lot more than this. We’re still weak in the middle, still lack the experience we desperately need and we still need another centre half.

The manager is fairly unproven too. Some good reports and some not so good. Pre season has been mixed, a decent performance against Marseille surrounded by some fairly nondescript games. Not that they really matter. Regis Le Bris I fear, has his work cut out. Messrs Dodds and Proctor remain, somehow, as a major part of the first team coaching setup but ultimately I think the problem lies with the squad not being good nor experienced enough.

I suppose a lot hinges on who we manage to keep. Jack Clarke I imagine won’t be here come September. How do we replace him? No idea. A season of toil and disappointment I’m afraid.

Predicted finish: 14th
Player to watch: Chris Rigg

CHRIS WEATHERSPOON

Here we go again, then. Just 27 days since the 2023/24 season ended with England heartbroken in Berlin, we get to watch Sunderland play competitive football once more this Saturday lunchtime. If it feels like football has never been away, that’s because it hasn’t.

The European Championships did at least offer respite from the ever-turning rumour mill that looms over our club (and, I’m sure, everyone else’s too). I made a pointed effort not to take much notice this summer, for my own sanity as much as anything else and, in truth, it’s proven one of my better choices. Sod all has happened really; we’ve got a new manager nobody knows much about, signed an older head in midfield that was sorely needed and still not found a cure for our fear of experienced centre-forwards. Same old.

In terms of pre-season outings, they don’t mean much. Which is just as well, as the one game I settled onto my settee to watch lasted just 20 minutes before it had to make way for this summer’s 43rd viewing of Moana. Don’t have kids, people, and if you do, please figure out a way to skip the toddler stage.

From the little I have absorbed, it sounds like we’re trying to press teams more, and Regis Le Bris has at least imparted a new style. It’s impossible to judge how he’ll do right now. If we keep our best players and sign a centre-back and centre-forward, I’ll be fairly optimistic; if we don’t, I won’t. As things stand, my optimism extends as far as mid-table which, given we’ve shown relegation form since mid-December, would constitute a half-decent first season for our new head coach.

Predicted finish: 13th
Player to watch: [insert new striker here]

JIMMY REAY

It’s back (at last). Following a short but eventful summer break I can’t lie, I’m really looking forward to the start of the domestic season again. The Olympics have been great, the Euros were in parts too, but there’s nothing like EFL football to really get the juices flowing.

Following a frankly disgraceful second half to the 23/24 season, it’s no exaggeration to say that the pressure is firmly on Sunderland this campaign. A truncated managerial search finally bore fruit with a new Head Coach in the form of Regis le Bris, and while feedback from across the channel of his time at Lorient can hardly be filed under ‘overwhelmingly positive’, there are definite signs of a conscious effort to change our style of play back to something resembling actual football, and a seeming awareness of the task at hand and the associated expectation.

As ever, recruitment will be key as any manager can only work with the tools he is given. Players already here are a year older and more experienced, which should count for something, but the average age of the squad is still well below what is normally needed to be a successful Championship side, and there is clearly some business to do. The signing of Alan Browne is the stand-out so far – a talented and experienced Championship campaigner with Preston for a number of seasons he expressed his desire for a new challenge and a step-up – that he sees Sunderland as the place to do that is a good thing, and there have been flashes of the quality we can expect from him in preseason already,

The glaring hole is at the top of the pitch though – all signs seem to point to Caen’s Alexandre Mendy as being the man we are after to lead the line, and his record suggests that should the deal be done there is a fair chance he could be the man to do it. Problem is, he hasn’t signed yet, and our season starts on Saturday. While being aware that business always gets done after the start, it would be remiss not to note how long it has been obvious a player of his ilk has been needed, and frustrated that the process is still ongoing.

IF he (or someone of a similar standing) can be brought in, along with defensive and midfield reinforcements (squad players with experience ideally), and, crucially, we can keep hold of some of our star names then I think there is reason for cautious optimism that we can get back to challenging for the playoffs at least. Statements of intent can be made by retaining players as much as signing new ones, and I’m not resigning myself to Jack Clarke leaving as others have, as a) I’m a deluded optimist and b) there is definitely an argument to be made both from his and the club’s sides to give it until January at least. Similar goes for Dan Neil too.

I don’t blame anyone for not being particularly optimistic but I can’t pretend I’m not feeling it. Make a decent start to the season and momentum can quickly build. HAWAY LADS

Predicted Finish: 6th
Player to watch: Alan Browne

MICHAEL LOUGH

On 1st August, FC United of Manchester unveiled the signing of the 37 year old free agent, Adam Le Fondre. How is this relevant, I hear you ask? Well, the veteran striker was consistently selected over Eliezer Mayenda on the Hibernian bench in the second half of last season.

I don’t say this to dig out Mayenda, but it says a lot about our lack of success in the transfer market when he is our preferred option up front for the Championship opener.

Our opening four league fixtures feature games against Cardiff, Sheffield Wednesday and Portsmouth, which should represent a great opportunity to get our season off to a strong start, but I don’t feel like we’re starting the season much stronger than we ended our last campaign.

Browne is a very good piece of business, but we still lack a natural holding midfielder, which resulted in our overly cautious style of play in the second half of last season. Ian Poveda has the potential to be an exciting signing and Simon Moore should be a more competent backup for Anthony Patterson.

If Jack Clarke leaves and we don’t plug our significant gaps, I struggle to see us having a successful season.I’ve been encouraged by the style of play Regis Le Bris is trying to implement, and he’s made a good impression so far. But, like I said when we appointed him, we need to give him the tools to succeed and at the moment I feel we are falling short.

Prediction: 10th
Player to watch: Chris Rigg

MATT WILSON

Another season, another striker-less summer for Sunderland. While I appreciate that isn’t strictly true, it feels like the same recurring nightmare again and again, intermittently waking up from our communal slumbers in a feverish state, rambling garbled sentences that resemble “but who will score the goals?!!!”

While this isn’t the only talking point, it’s dominating the pre-season narrative. Alexandre Mendy seems to, for some reason, have his heart set on Sunderland but it’s anyone’s guess if the deal will get done and even if it does he’s been training alone and will be far from match fitness. And would a 30 year old who’s played most of his career in the French second tier even be a success? It’s a situation that befits our wider hopes for the season; a venture into the unknown. A new head coach, again untested in England. A squad with undoubted talent but questionable fitness and a strong possibility of key departures before the window ends. We feel like a side who could conceivably finish anywhere from 3rd to 23rd depending on where you are on the glass half full/empty scale.

Me? I stupidly follow Sunderland with hope and optimism. So even in the face of little logic, before each season, I always hope that this is our time. It’s what keeps me coming back. So I hope the stars align and Regis Le Bris can find the magic, the alchemy, the right ingredients, and maybe even a striker, to make our season a success.

Predicted Finish: 6th
Player to Watch: Trai Hume

RICHARD EASTERBROOK

At approximately 10.30am on Thursday, with just over 48 hours until Sunderland’s season gets under way at Cardiff City, it finally happened.

That’s right, I felt the first pangs of excitement for the start of the football season.

While those pangs actually turned out to be a chunk of cinnamon bagel that was having a hard time making its way into my digestive system (I’m fine by the way), I did, some time later, feel what can only be described as a positive reaction while thinking about settling down to watch the first of 4,000 12.30 kick-offs televised live on Sky Sports this season.

If you completely ignore the fact that Sunderland have not signed players in the two positions they absolutely definitely needed to cover after the clown car crash at the end of last season, it’s actually quite positive on Wearside right now.

But while a new manager, incredible new hummel kits, brand new floodlights, a PA system that works and a top-class new pitch is all well and good, none of that can conceal that we have not signed a striker, and we have not replaced Corry Evans.

Our transfer activity seems to be all based on what happens if Jack Clarke leaves. We’ve not spent a penny and there’s no signs of that changing until someone may come in for Clarke. Which will be at the back end of the window.

So, I’m a bit concerned. The signing of Alan Browne, in particular, is a positive one, but I’d be a lot happier if the likes of Brown and Ian Poveda were signed along with a striker and a combative midfielder. That hasn’t happened and, so, we don’t look much stronger than we did last season, where we struggled.

We will huff and puff, and there’s signs we’ll be a bit more organised and, under Regis Le Bris, we may have more of an identity, but without those players in key positions, I can’t see us making an impact on the play-offs this year. I hope and pray that the next three weeks of the transfer window will change my mind.

Predicted finish: 10th
Player to watch: Alan Browne

STEPHEN KENNEDY

Summer 2024 has played tricks on us. England were okay at football. The sunshine didn’t start until the Halloween decorations appeared in ASDA. Sunderland managed to create feel-good-factor through the medium of nylon PE kits (they are class, mind).

Predictions right now are hard, because so much is up in the air regarding transfers, with the future of Jack Clarke, Trai Hume, Anthony Patterson, Dan Neil, Pierre Ekwah and more still unclear. Plus, there’s still that gaping striker-shaped hole in the team. Add into that, we don’t know if Regis Le Bris is actually any good. On the other hand, despite us not having spent a penny yet, Alan Browne is a smart signing, although we’re crying out for a few more bodies to fill out the ranks.

Ultimately, our first choice XI is amongst the best in the league…if we get a good striker or two through the door. However, injuries and player sales will happen. A striker, somehow probably still won’t happen. The young players who were thrown to the lions last season should either be better for it, or fundamentally destroyed on a mental level. So, should we get a grown-up striker who does the business, we’ll finish in the play-offs, and with that in mind…

Predicted Finish: 9th (oh)
Player to Watch: Patrick Roberts

JON LAMBERT

Whilst deadline day comes some weeks after the season’s start, it‘s very tricky to fully understand what you have, and what you are really up against… but let’s give it a go.

A steady but not spectacular pre-season saw glimpses of decent pressing football, with players such as Mundle and Mayenda being surprisingly impressive. Even the man the myth Hemir scored a worldie over in Spain, much to the sheer disbelief of Patrick Roberts as he saw it ping the top corner.

The reality is these players are ones that we may well have to rely on in the first half of the season, as it appears another transfer window may elude us on the never ending wait for a striker. I anticipate a few players moving on, joining Matete (loan) and Embleton who are already out of the door, and a late dip into the loan market once the Premier League clubs have done the real business. Which gives us time to completely neglect the weaknesses in our squad and probably bring in a couple more goalkeepers.

I’m confident Regis Le Bris can bring a better brand of football to the club and think we are a lot savvier a side with new signing Alan Browne in it. I’d back us to finish in the play-offs but I do worry if we’ll score enough goals, as we will concede our fair share, given our only consistently fit defenders, Hume and O’Nien, also love a suspension.

Predicted Finish: 6th
Player to Watch: Chris Rigg