Why are you automatically presuming this? If you believe the reports, our first target for the managerial role is Steve Bruce – hardly indicative of a club desperate for a big name statement.

Why would we even need to compete with the likes of Bayern, Ajax or Juventus right now? People forget that David Moyes’ previous managerial experience was a reasonable job with Preston North End. If we have good investment pumping in, with a manager who knows which way his head is screwed on for a change, there’s no reason whatsoever to suggest that in the relative short term we can’t progress to where Aston Villa and Everton are now. And it’s not as if the Merseyside and Birmingham areas are great pulls either. If we reach that stage, after that, who knows.

You may as well write off anyone outside the big 4. I don’t think anyone would dispute the need to build slowly and sensibly, but that starts with having a manager who actually knows his job. There are plenty of managers with the sort of premiership track record (not talking about Curbishley) and scouting networks that Sunderland need to establishthemselves as a Villa or an Everton, who wouldn’t necessarily be on Real Madrid’s wishlist. It’s the manager who is key – Newcastle’s big mistake was ditching Allardyce – and look at small clubs who have been well-managed, your Wigans and your Boros. I can’t help thinking that if only Sunderland got this one basic ingredient right then our history and our fanbase, along with long-term backing from a fantastic chairman and his band of moneymen, would see us finally carving out our place.