Kieron Brady: Sunderland's cost of success needs balance

The contract is offered in writing and upon the opening gaze, the recipient speeds towards the numbers which precede the words 'per week.' This often indicates the fruits of labour, the reward for the years spent as players hone their craft. It also often demonstrates the desire the club has regarding your services, as well as highlighting just what their overall objectives are. 

We are hardly divulging state secrets in speaking of Sunderland and a policy on youth. The age of so many recent recruits not only reinforces that, but also conveys a hope that any desired outcome can be attained through modest expenditure. There are countless players who have taken their first steps as full-time footballers at elite clubs in elite leagues. 

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Sunderland, with adept timing, have been able to capitalise on the realisation of some that the pathway to first team football at such clubs is bordering on non-existent. And so, with an offer of greater prospects, as well as a longer contract but without it being necessarily as lucrative, they are able to entice those who may feel somewhat gridlocked at a career crossroads. 

There is nothing wrong in sourcing talent with promise. Whether through the modern football fad of driven data or resorting to the trusted and more traditional method of putting faith in experienced eyes. Both can coexist, even if the former should never eclipse the latter as the definitive judgement. 

Luis Hemir is one of a number of young signings who have struggled at the Stadium of Light this season (Image: Ian Horrocks)

That aside, a notion of promotion with a nucleus of post-teenage energy is not only seriously flawed but can also point towards miserliness at the highest levels. 

To elaborate, many of the aforementioned will be making Wearside their home for several years with little more than a few thousand pounds each week. In normal circumstances a wonderful wage but in the footballing world, certainly for a club aiming for the elite, a concern. 

Yes, there will be exceptions, but the emphasis on youth is not merely about the quality of the player and what they can bring in a footballing sense in the short-term, but financial in the medium to long-term.

It seems like one, or more, of the aforementioned may sever ties with Sunderland in the summer. So while Jack Clarke and Dan Ballard et al may continue elsewhere, the policy seems to be recruiting the same effect but at a fraction of the selling price. 

This is nothing more than hope. It may have modern technology playing a part, but the statistics attached to a player elsewhere doesn't always inspire confidence that they can be replicated here. 

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Alas, such innovation in the cyber world doesn't account for language barriers, having family in close proximity, new surroundings and cultural differences. Nor does it factor in that this is Sunderland and players improving significantly after arriving on Wearside tends to be the exception rather than the rule. 

The period of recruitment that awaits has to change from previous transfer windows. It has to create much greater balance between the verve of career infants and the wisdom of more senior figures.

Sunderland descended from the Championship with a wealth of experience. They should not try to twist logic and deduce that they can ascend from it with a large percentage of players whose first team appearances are measured only in double figures, and in some cases single.

When the white smoke emerges atop the Stadium of Light to proclaim the new manager we will, in all likelihood, be able to assess whether change is coming.