2015–16 Sunderland A.F.C. season explained

Club:	Sunderland
Season:	2015–16
Manager:	Dick Advocaat (until 4 October 2015) Sam Allardyce (from 9 October 2015)
Stadium:	Stadium of Light
League:	Premier League
League Result:	17th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Third round
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	Third round
League Topscorer:	Jermain Defoe (15)
Season Topscorer:	Jermain Defoe (18)
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Prevseason:	2014–15
Nextseason:	2016–17

The 2015–16 season is Sunderland's 137th season in existence, and their ninth consecutive season in the Premier League.^[1] Along with competing in the Premier League, the club also participated in the FA Cup and League Cup. The season covers the period from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2016. On May 11 2016, Sunderland confirmed a tenth consecutive Premier League season with a 3–0 victory over Everton at the Stadium of Light. Simultaneously, the result confirmed the relegation of arch-rivals Newcastle.

Squad

First Team Squad

Squad No.	Name	Nationality	Position (s)	Date of Birth (Age)	Signed from
Goalkeepers
13	Jordan Pickford		GK	7 March 1994	Academy
25	Vito Mannone		GK	2 March 1988	Arsenal
33	Steve Harper		GK	14 March 1975	Free Agent
Defenders
2	Billy Jones		RB	24 March 1987	West Bromwich Albion
3	Patrick van Aanholt		LB	29 August 1990	Chelsea
5	Wes Brown		CB	13 October 1979	Manchester United
15	Younès Kaboul		CB	4 January 1986	Tottenham Hotspur
16	John O'Shea (captain)		CB	30 April 1981	Manchester United
23	Lamine Koné		CB	1 February 1988	Lorient
24	DeAndre Yedlin		RB	9 July 1993	Tottenham Hotspur (on loan)
34	Thomas Robson U21		LB	11 September 1995	Darlington
Midfielders
6	Lee Cattermole (vice-captain)		DM	21 March 1988	Wigan Athletic
7	Sebastian Larsson		CM	6 June 1985	Birmingham City
8	Jack Rodwell		CM	11 March 1991	Manchester City
17	Jeremain Lens		LW	24 November 1987	Dynamo Kyiv
20	Ola Toivonen		AM	3 July 1986	Rennes (on loan)
21	Yann M'Vila		DM	29 June 1990	Rubin Kazan (on loan)
22	Wahbi Khazri		AM	8 February 1991	Bordeaux
27	Jan Kirchhoff		DM	1 October 1990	Bayern Munich
37	Rees Greenwood U21		LW	20 January 1996	Academy
39	George Honeyman U21		AM	8 September 1994	Academy
41	Duncan Watmore		RW	8 March 1994	Altrincham
46	Lynden Gooch U21		AM	24 December 1995	Academy
Forwards
9	Fabio Borini		ST	29 March 1991	Liverpool
10	Dame N'Doye		ST	21 February 1985 (age 30)	Trabzonspor (on loan)
18	Jermain Defoe		ST	7 October 1982	Toronto

• U21 = Under-21 player

New contracts

		Player	Until	Source
5	Defender	Wes Brown	June 2016	^[2]
6	Midfielder	Lee Cattermole	June 2021	^[3]
41	Midfielder	Duncan Watmore	June 2020	^[4]
13	Goalkeeper	Jordan Pickford	June 2020	^[5]
39	Midfielder	George Honeyman	June 2017	^[6]
46	Midfielder	Lynden Gooch	June 2019	^[7]

Transfers and loans

Transfers in

+First Team	Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Fee	Ref.
1 Jul 2015	CB		Sebastián Coates	Liverpool	£2,000,000	^[8]
3 Jul 2015	RB		Adam Matthews	Celtic	£2,000,000	^[9]
15 Jul 2015	LW		Jeremain Lens	Dynamo Kyiv	£8,000,000	^[10]
16 Jul 2015	CB		Younès Kaboul	Tottenham Hotspur	£3,000,000	^[11]
31 Aug 2015	ST		Fabio Borini	Liverpool	£10,000,000	^[12]
7 Jan 2016	CB		Jan Kirchhoff	Bayern Munich	£750,000	^[13]
22 Jan 2016	GK		Steve Harper	Free Agent	Free	^[14]
27 Jan 2016	CB		Lamine Koné	Lorient	£5,000,000	^[15]
30 Jan 2016	AM		Wahbi Khazri	Bordeaux	£9,000,000	^[16]
9 Mar 2016	RB		Emmanuel Eboué	Free Agent	Free	^[17]

Total Spending: £39,750,000

Loans in

+First Team	Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	From	Date until	Ref.
6 Aug 2015	DM		Yann M'Vila	Rubin Kazan	End of season	^[18]
28 Aug 2015	AM		Ola Toivonen	Rennes	End of season	^[19]
1 Sep 2015	RB		DeAndre Yedlin	Tottenham Hotspur	End of season	^[20]
14 Jan 2016	ST		Dame N'Doye	Trabzonspor	End of season	^[21]

Transfers out

+First Team	Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Fee	Ref.
29 Jun 2015	DM		El Hadji Ba	Charlton Athletic	£500,000	^[22]
30 Jun 2015	RB		Anthony Réveillère	Free agent	Released	^[23]
3 Aug 2015	ST		Connor Wickham	Crystal Palace	£9,000,000	^[24]
19 Jan 2016	GK		Costel Pantilimon	Watford	£6,000,000	^[25]
11 Feb 2016	RW		Adam Johnson	Free Agent	Sacked	^[26]
31 March 2016	RB		Emmanuel Eboué	Free Agent	Released	^[27]
5 May 2016	CB		Valentin Roberge	Free Agent	Released	^[28]

Total Received: £15,500,000

Loans out

+First Team	Date from	Position	Nationality	Name	To	Date until	Ref.
16 Jul 2015	CB				End of season	^[29]
31 Jul 2015	GK				31 Dec 2015	^[30]
31 Aug 2015	AM				End of season	^[31]
2 Oct 2015	LW				26 Nov 2015	^[32]
15 Jan 2016					End of season	^[33]
26 Nov 2015	DM				End of season	^[34] ^[35]
20 Jan 2016	ST				End of season	^[36]
21 Jan 2016	AM		Lynden Gooch U21		Mar 21 2016	^[37] ^[38]
27 Jan 2016	RW				End of season	^[39]
28 Jan 2016	CB				End of season	^[40]
31 Jan 2016	CM				End of season	^[41]
31 Jan 2016	ST				End of season	^[42]
7 Mar 2016	RB				End of season	^[43]

Pre-season friendlies

On 26 May 2015, Sunderland announced two pre-season friendly against Darlington 1883^[44] and Doncaster Rovers.^[45] On 5 June 2015, a tour of the United States and Canada was announced.^[46] On 23 June 2015, an exhibition match against Hannover 96 was announced to be played in Germany.^[47]

Competitions

Overview

Competition	Record
Premier League
FA Cup
League Cup
Total Premier League See main article: 2015–16 Premier League. Matches On 17 June 2015, the fixtures for the forthcoming season were announced.^[48] Football League Cup See main article: 2015–16 Football League Cup. FA Cup See main article: 2015–16 FA Cup. Statistics Appearances and goals
Players out on loan:
Players no longer with club:

Goalscorers

Rank	No.	Nat.	Name	Premier League	FA Cup	League Cup	Total
1	18					15		0		3		18
2	9					5		0		0		5
3	3					4		0		0		4
	17					3		1		0		4
	26					4		0		0		4
	41					3		0		1		4
7	8					1		0		2		3
8	11					2		0		0		2
	22					2		0		0		2
	23					2		0		0		2
11	2					1		0		0		1
	10					1		0		0		1
	20					0		0		1		1
	21					1		0		0		1
Own Goals				4	0	0	4
Total				44	1	7	52

Clean Sheets

Includes all competitive matches. The list is sorted alphabetically by surname when total clean sheets are equal.

Correct as of match played on 11 May 2016

width=10	No.	width=10	Nat.	Player	Matches Played	Clean Sheet %	width=150	Premier League	width=150	FA Cup	width=150	League Cup	width=150	TOTAL
25		Vito Mannone	20	20%	4	0	0	4
1		Costel Pantilimon	18	17%	3	0	0	3
13		Jordan Pickford	2	0%	0	0	0	0
Totals			40	18%	7	0	0	7

Disciplinary record

No.	Pos.	Name	Premier League			FA Cup			League Cup			Total
1					3																		3
2					8																		8
3					2																		2
5					1																		1
6					8																		8
7					2																		2
8					5												1						6
9					6																		6
10					2																		2
11					3																		3
15					3		1																3		1
16					2																		2
17					3		1																3		1
18					2																		2
20					1																		1
20					1																		1
22					4												1						5
22					3																		3
24					2																		2
25					2																		2
Total			63	2	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	65	2	0

Overall summary

Summary

Games played	40 (37 Premier League, 1 FA Cup, 2 League Cup)
Games won	10 (9 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Games drawn	11 (11 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Games lost	19 (17 Premier League, 1 FA Cup, 1 League Cup)
Goals scored	54 (46 Premier League, 1 FA Cup, 7 League Cup)
Goals conceded	70 (60 Premier League, 3 FA Cup, 7 League Cup)
Goal difference	-16 (-14 Premier League, -2 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Clean sheets	7 (7 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Yellow cards	52 (50 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 2 League Cup)
Red cards	2 (2 Premier League, 0 FA Cup, 0 League Cup)
Worst discipline	Billy Jones (8, 0)
Best result	3–0 v. Newcastle United (H), 3–0 v. Everton (H)
Worst result	2–6 v. Everton (A)
Most appearances	Yann M'Vila (37)
Top scorer	Jermain Defoe (18)

Score overview

Opposition	Home score	Away score	Double
Arsenal	0–0	3–1
Aston Villa	3–1	2–2
Bournemouth	1–1	2–0
Chelsea	3–2	3–1
Crystal Palace	2–2	0–1
Everton	3–0	6–2
Leicester City	0–2	4–2
Liverpool	0–1	2–2
Manchester City	0–1	4–1
Manchester United	2–1	3–0
Newcastle United	3–0	1-1
Norwich City	1–3	0–3
Southampton	0–1	1–1
Stoke City	2–0	1–1
Swansea City	1–1	2–4
Tottenham Hotspur	0–1	4–1
Watford	0–1	2–2
West Bromwich Albion	0–0	1–0
West Ham United	2–2	0–1

Notes and References

1. News: History . Statto.
2. Web site: Brown pens new deal . Sunderland A.F.C. . 12 June 2015.
3. Web site: Cattermole pens new deal . Sunerland A.F.C. . 2 July 2015.
4. Web site: Watmore signs new contract . Sunerland A.F.C. . 22 November 2015.
5. Web site: Pickford pens new deal . Sunerland A.F.C. . 27 January 2016.
6. Web site: Sunderland hands Honeyman a one year extension . Chronicle Live . 14 April 2016.
7. Web site: Lynden Gooch signs new 3 year . USA Today . 21 April 2016.
8. News: Sunderland sign Sebastian Coates from Liverpool on four-year deal . ESPN . 1 July 2015.
9. News: Sunderland sign Welsh international . Sunderland A.F.C. . 3 July 2015.
10. News: SAFC capture Lens .
11. News: Black Cats sign Kaboul .
12. News: Borini returns to Sunderland . Sunderland AFC . 31 August 2015 . 31 August 2015.
13. News: Black Cats Sign Kirchhoff . Sunderland AFC . 7 January 2016 . 7 January 2016.
14. News: Sunderland sign Steve Harper . Sunderland AFC . 22 January 2016 . 22 January 2016.
15. News: Lamine Kone signs for Sunderland . Sunderland AFC . 27 January 2016 . 27 January 2016.
16. News: Black Cats sign Wahbi Khazri . Sunderland A.F.C. . 30 January 2016.
17. News: Sunderland sign Eboue . Sunderland A.F.C. . 9 March 2016.
18. News: Yann M'Vila signs .
19. News: Sunderland sign Ola Toivonen .
20. News: Deadline-day move completed . Sunderland AFC . 1 September 2015 . 1 September 2015.
21. Web site: SAFC - NDoye signs. safc.com. 2016-01-14.
22. News: El-Hadji Ba becomes Charlton's second summer signing . Charlton Athletic F.C. . 29 June 2015 . 29 June 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150629193821/http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/charlton-el-hadji-ba-sunderland-premier-league-championship-transfers-2493345.aspx . 29 June 2015 . dead . dmy-all .
23. News: Retained and released lists submitted by Premier League clubs . Premier League . 10 June 2015 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150926084333/http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/news/news/2015-16/jun/100615-premier-league-clubs-submit-retained-and-released-lists.html . 26 September 2015 .
24. News: Wickham joins Palace .
25. News: OFFICIAL: Keeper Pantilimon Joins Hornets . Watford F.C. . 19 January 2016 . 19 January 2016 . 19 January 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160119221916/http://www.watfordfc.com/news/article/costel-pantilimon-watford-fc-sunderland-premier-league-2910487.aspx . dead .
26. News: Club Statement .
27. News: Contract Terminated Eboue .
28. News: Contract Terminated Roberge .
29. News: Vergini loaned to Spanish club . Sunderland AFC . 16 July 2015.
30. News: Pickford joins Preston . Sunderland AFC . 31 July 2015.
31. News: Giaccherini heads out on loan . Sunderland AFC . 31 August 2015 . 31 August 2015.
32. News: Buckley joins Leeds on loan . BBC Sport . 2 October 2015 . 3 October 2015.
33. News: Buckley signs 1 month loan deal. BBC Sport . 15 January 2016 . 15 January 2016.
34. News: Bridcutt joins Leeds. Sunderland AFC . 2 October 2015 . 26 November 2015.
35. News: Leeds extends Bridcutt's loan deal. BBC Sport. 5 January 2016 . 6 January 2016.
36. News: Danny Graham joins Blackburn on loan. BBC . 20 January 2016 . 20 January 2016.
37. News: Gooch joins Doncaster on 1 month deal. BBC . 21 January 2016 . 20 January 2016.
38. News: Gooch extends loan deal. South Yorkshire . 24 February 2016 . 14 March 2016.
39. News: Mavrias heads to Germany. Sunderland AFC . 27 January 2016 . 27 January 2016.
40. News: Coates heads out on loan. Sunderland AFC . 28 January 2016 . 30 January 2016.
41. News: Gomez joins Blackburn.
42. News: Fletcher join Marseille.
43. News: Matthews completes loan deal.
44. News: Black Cats to face Darlington . Sunderland AFC . 26 May 2015.
45. News: Black Cats to make Keepmoat trip . Sunderland AFC . 26 May 2015.
46. News: Black Cats head to North America . Sunderland AFC . 5 June 2015.
47. News: Black Cats travel to Germany . Sunderland AFC . 23 June 2015.
48. News: Fixtures announced . Sunderland AFC . 17 June 2015.