Sunderland have been praised by journalist James Copley for announcing some ‘cracking news’.
The mood among Sunderland supporters is slowly turning positive after a very tough 2024 so far.
The Black Cats’ 2023/24 season started to derail when the club sacked Tony Mowbray in December, eventually replacing him with Michael Beale who lasted just 12 games in charge.
Mike Dodds oversaw the final few months of the campaign but couldn’t prevent Sunderland from achieving a very disappointing 16th place finish in the Championship; just six points above the drop zone in the end.
But with Regis Le Bris in place as the new head coach, followed by the release of a widely popular 2024/25 home shirt, Sunderland fans are slowly starting to feel optimistic about their club.
And journalist Jame Copley has now praised the club after they announced a first professional contract for one of their youngsters on Tuesday morning.
Sunderland announce first professional contract for Tom Lavery
Sunderland announced on Tuesday that 18-year-old academy graduate Tom Lavery has now signed his first professional contract with the club.
Lavery, 18, has penned a contract until 2026 with Sunderland holding the option to extend his stay by a further year.
A right-back by trade, Lavery is capable of playing in the middle, having featured prominently for the youth sides last season, also featuring on the bench for the first-team in Championship games against Swansea City, Norwich City, and Southampton through February and March.
Reacting to the news of a first pro contract for Lavery, Copley posted on X:
Sunderland and Kristjaan Speakman trying to strike a balance
Sunderland are widely expected to make some evident change to their vision and model this summer.
It comes after the downfall of last season and Phil Smith says that Sunderland will still target youngsters, but also look to add some Championship-experienced players to their ranks this summer.
And with the Black Cats bound to spend money on some star quality this summer, Kristjaan Speakman may place more of a focus on youngsters within the club’s own youth academy.
Players like Lavery and Tom Watson could begin to feature more prominently with the first-team next season, or even head out on loan should the club feel it would be beneficial.
Sunderland are certainly producing some talented youngsters right now, with Chris Rigg the standout, and his emergence in the first-team shows players like Lavery that there is a route into the first-team, and that Sunderland is a good place to develop as a young footballer.
