“You can feel it’s a special club” – Tony Mowbray makes Sunderland admission amid promising start to season | OneFootball

Tony Mowbray has claimed Sunderland need to temper their expectations for the season ahead following a good start to the campaign.

The Black Cats are currently sitting inside the play-off places in 5th position after a promising opening 10 games.

However, the new Sunderland boss knows that the long year ahead means there will be plenty of ups and downs.

The 58-year old believes that this young squad needs to be nurtured and developed over time into a promotion challenging team, and that the pieces aren’t quite there to sustain a prolonged promotion push just yet.

Despite the big size of the club, the former Blackburn Rovers manager has admitted that Sunderland are still playing catch-up to some of the bigger teams in the division.

“I was at Spennymoor on Sunday and everybody is a Sunderland fan,” said Mowbray, via Chronicle Live.

“It’s a special club and you can feel it’s a special club. I just hope that we can find a way to make it an enjoyable season for everybody.

“I feel as though I have to temper expectation a little bit because we’re a big boy in terms of size of club in the league in terms of fanbase and everything – but we have just come out of League One and the squad needs growing and developing and nurturing with the younger players.

“Hopefully it’s an enjoyable season for everybody and we have some amazing days with some great victories along the way with exciting times.

“On a personal level, everyone at the training ground has been fantastic and the lads are great, they just need nurturing.”

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Sunderland return to Championship action this weekend following the conclusion of the international break.

Mowbray’s side face the visit of Preston North End on 1 October, with the Lilywhites in the middle of a three game run without a win.

Meanwhile, the new Black Cats’ manager has overseen one win, one draw and one loss from his three games in charge at the Stadium of Light so far.

The Verdict

Keeping expectations in check for now is the logical move for Mowbray, who is still adapting to his new surroundings as first team head coach.

While Sunderland are obviously a big club, they have spent the last four years in the third tier so will need to re-adjust back to competing at this level.

It has been a promising start to life back in the Championship, but there are no guarantees that this will continue in such a competitive league.

Developing this young squad into an experienced set of players will help them grow into becoming promotion challengers, which should be the long-term aim, but it is likely too soon for the team to be expecting a top six tilt this campaign.