9:32AM, Tue Jun 26, 2012

Sunderland Owner Ellis Short Wants Consistent Improvement And Top Ten Finishes

Ellis Short: Wants to establish Sunderland as a top ten club via conti

Sunderland owner Ellis Short wants to be 'well within the top ten' in the Premier League as the club target continual progress and summer signings to improve

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Sunderland finished 13th last season after changing managers from Steve Bruce to Martin O'Neill.

O'Neill and American tycoon Short have been discussing potential transfer targets but the owner insists they will not sign players just for the sake for it.

He said: "He [O'Neill] and I have been talking all summer long about what we are going to do.

"The fans have a pretty good idea of what we need to do and everybody has a pretty good idea of what we need to do, so now Martin is looking at specific players that we might want, and then there will be a lot of work and then trying to get those players here.

"But we don't want to sign players just for the sake of signing them, or because it feels like they are inexpensive for some reason.

"We want to identify players who are good and who will definitely improve us, and try to bring them in."

He added: "There is a lot of pressure, not just to stay in the Premier League but to improve.

"We are not happy with finishing 13th, we are not happy at all but we realise that you need steady progress, you need continual progress.

"You don't want to finish seventh twice in a row and get relegated the next season, which has happened in the past.

"We do feel like now with Martin and with the progress we have made, we are well-positioned.

"We want to be well within the top ten - we certainly can't promise that but we are not happy with where we are and we do want to continue to improve, and yes, there is huge pressure to do so, both from the fans and their expectations and also just from the sheer size of the economics that are involved in the Premier League."

To that end, Sunderland on Monday announced an innovative sponsorship deal with Invest for Africa, an organisation backed by oil giant Tullow Oil which aims to promote business opportunities on the continent.

The Black Cats hope the partnership will open up a vast new fan-base and help them to maximise new revenue streams.

Short said: "If we can become a very popular team on that continent, it's probably better than being the 100th most popular team in the richest economy in the world.

"We want to be well within the top 10 - we certainly can't promise that, but we are not happy with where we are and we do want to continue to improve."

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Pos	Team	P	Pts
15	Aston Villa	38	41
16	Newcastle United	38	41
17	Sunderland	38	39
18	Wigan Athletic	38	36
19	Reading	38	28

Fixtures & Results

April

Barclays Premier League - Sun 7
FT	Chelsea	2-1	Sunderland
Barclays Premier League - Sun 14
FT	Newcastle	0-3	Sunderland
Barclays Premier League - Sat 20
FT	Sunderland	1-0	Everton
Barclays Premier League - Mon 29
FT	A Villa	6-1	Sunderland

May

Barclays Premier League - Mon 6
FT	Sunderland	1-1	Stoke City
Barclays Premier League - Sun 12
FT	Sunderland	1-1	Southamptn
Barclays Premier League - Sun 19
FT	Tottenham	1-0	Sunderland