Anton Ferdinand: We could do a Fulham

Jun 17 2009 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

The cynics will point out that there is a familiar – and some might therefore say hollow – ring to Ferdinand’s words. This time last year the Wearsiders had a young, highly-rated manager with a generous transfer budget and the talk was of kicking on from a relegation battle to qualify for Europe.

As recently as March, Kieran Richardson was expressing the hope his team could make it into last season’s top seven.

When asked what Sunderland needed to do to ensure these latest words were backed up by actions, Ferdinand was non-committal.

“That’s not my place to say,” he said. “The people who need to be answering that are the chairman and the new manager. They’re the ones who are going to make the decisions and hopefully they’re the right ones.

“But there will definitely be new faces. The new man will come aboard, Mr Short, and we’ll see what happens.”

They promise to be exciting times ahead for Sunderland, and despite persistent transfer talk to the contrary, Ferdinand wants to be part of it. “I hope I will be,” he said. “There’s no reason why I shouldn’t, but football’s football and you never know.”

The draw for this summer’s Amsterdam Tournament has seen Sunderland avoid hosts Ajax. The Black Cats will open the pre-season competition with a game against Benfica at 7pm on July 24.

Their second match of the four-team tournament is 48 hours later against Atlético Madrid.

Meanwhile, new Hibernian boss John Hughes is reportedly interested in working with Anthony Stokes for a second time.

The striker was loaned to Hughes’ Falkirk before signing for the Black Cats, and his 14 goals in 16 Scottish Premier League games were instrumental in his £2m Wearside move. Stokes’ last league start for Sunderland was in March 2008, though. He spent most of last season on loan at Sheffield United and Crystal Palace.