Patience will be a virtue for Sunderland

May 1 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

Lorik Cana sees Sunderland’s season as a success story, but warns it may take time for the next stage of the project to be realised. Mark Douglas reports.

SUNDERLAND are in uncharted territory. May is usually squeaky-bum time at the Stadium of Light but, thanks to the impressive strides made under Steve Bruce’s stewardship, the Black Cats are experiencing their first stress-free spring for years.

There is, as Bruce has been at pains to point out, still plenty to play for, not least the prestige of knocking Manchester United out of the title race in front of a packed Stadium of Light tomorrow afternoon.

Bruce told the Sunderland board last summer a top-ten finish was within reach, and managing to hang on to their current position would be mission accomplished – doubly satisfying given their mid-season dip.

Post-season player bonuses depend on where Sunderland finish and, as Bruce points out, finishing a few notches above the place they had budgeted for will free up his hand in the summer transfer stakes.

Let’s be honest, it makes a refreshing change for Sunderland to be looking up rather than staring into the abyss as winter melts into summer.

Bruce’s biggest concern at a relaxed press conference on Thursday afternoon was the revelation the Sunday Times rates his personal fortune at £10million – making him the richest English manager in the game.

He grumbled: “I am never going to hear the end of that.”

That relaxed confidence extends to the dressing room, with skipper Lorik Cana in similarly upbeat mood this week.

The Albanian researched Sunderland forensically before signing last summer, but he admits he was still taking something of a leap into the unknown when he switched the south coast of France for Wearside.

Eight months into his Premier League career, Cana is able to reflect on a campaign of hard-earned progress for the Black Cats.

He said: “It has been a good season. It is not finished yet and to finish in the top half is going to be difficult.