One week to go before Pre-season kick off...

Sunderlands USA/Canada pre-season tour kicks off next week.

Mccarthy had previously said that he would have liked around 8 players to join the squad before the USA tour began but it now looks as though that figure is going to be something off the mark and that Mic and the sunderland board are going for the shock blitzkreig tactics of bringing in a bigger pool of newer, younger, inexperienced blood for the premiership rather then a smaller corps of more expensive experienced players, in a hope to take the top teir league by surprise. (Perhaps just like blackburn did when they won the league although I'm sure most fans are under no illusion that we won't even come close to that feat this year)

Murray had already stated last season that sunderland had "leaned their lesson" when it comes to forced purchases (i.e. flo) and that the team would not make the same mistake again, so it perhaps should come as little surprise that this is the rout that sunderland have chosen to take this year, even if some fans had perhaps been holding out for an experienced Bould type player to steady the SAFC ship (although with all the frenzied transfer activity sunderland have shown it would be no suprise to me at all if sunderland sign more players before the start of the footballing year- Do no be surprised if someone like that arrives before the season starts for real as it is obviously in vetern players that we need investment in, probably more then any single field position).

So, onward to north america we go with a squad that will be interesting to watch.

To my knowledge nothing is organised officially in any of the four cities that Sunderland are touring, so if you would like to meet up in any of these areas, then please send me a PM (regretably I cannot answer emails from this site due to the amount of spam I get) via the messageboard. My user name is: Yankee mackem, or alternatively you can post a message on the USA board.

See you in the north west!