JUST IN: Sunderland football player dies in a car accident this morning.

Welcome back for another season — the fifteenth of Roker Report’s existence!

It’s good to be back, even though we never really went away.

One of my most oft-used phrases is that it’s never boring supporting Sunderland, so whatever the case may be, I’m gearing up for another year of chaos.

It’s funny because it felt like everywhere I looked on the socials and in the Roker Report mailbag on the morning of the Cardiff game, people were really down on Sunderland’s chances, mainly due to the chronic lack of a striker.

Blackpool v Sunderland - Pre Season Friendly

And I get it because it feels like we’ve had this issue for years and years, but that’s not to say we’re a completely busted flush because we lack a clinical number nine. We still have one of the best goalscorers in the division in Jack Clarke — something he proved once again with his trademark chop inside and shot across the goalkeeper to wrap up the three points.

What concerned me more than anything when our season capitulated last time around was the complete lack of organisation in our ranks. It was almost as though the team that wowed the world of football with its astonishing brand of tiki-taka under Tony Mowbray in that run towards the playoffs had completely forgotten how to be good.

Cardiff City v Sunderland - Sky Bet Championship

The club quite clearly drew a line under all of that in the summer and took their time to appoint a Head Coach that they felt could really make an impression on the way that we play football, and although it’s early days, the signs are all largely positive.

Analysis: Evidence that Sunderland are performing far better this season than last - Sports Illustrated Sunderland Nation

It feels like acquiring that much-sought-after centre forward will be the point at which many fans can really move on from the misery of the last campaign, and that’s fair enough. The owner has got just over two weeks to back his centre Director and Head Coach in the transfer market, and like with the appointment of Le Bris, I’d much rather they took whatever time it takes to get the man they really want.I’ve waited this long, so I can wait another fortnight or so if that’s what it takes.