FIVE January signings to save Sunderland’s season

The start to the season has been somewhat of a mess for Sunderland. They occupy the bottom spot in the Premier League with only one point from their first four games.

The aura of the whole club at the moment is chaotic. Some may say manager Paolo Di Canio doesn’t help with this perception. Brought in as a short term fix to keep Sunderland in the top flight last time around, the long term negative effect of appointing a character such as this now seems to be taking hold and the Italian’s criticism of his players in the aftermath of their game against Crystal Palace on the 31st August compounded the feeling of indifference at the Stadium of Light.

Things just aren’t going well for Sunderland at the moment. They were unlucky not to claim an equaliser at the weekend against Arsenal due to a ridiculous refereeing decision in which he saw no advantage for Jozy Altidore even though the American was through one on one with the keeper.

However, critics will point to more than this in analysing Sunderland’s poor performances so far this campaign. After bringing in no less than 14 summer signings Di Canio recently claimed he needs more new faces. He is probably right, not because 14 isn’t enough – but because the 14 signed are somewhat mediocre players with very little experience of a competition anywhere near the intensity of the Premier League.

This is bound to have unsettled their incumbent players. Sunderland need some genuinely exciting quality in January otherwise it looks certain that they will be embroiled in a second successive relegation battle, with or without Di Canio at the helm.

Click on Yossi Benayoun to see FIVE players for Sunderland to consider