SUNDERLAND, England (AP) -The Premier League season for Sunderland is all about making sure the club does not follow the well-worn path recently trod by Ipswich, West Brom and Reading.
Like Sunderland, those clubs confounded confident predictions that their promotion to the Premier League would be followed by an immediate return to the second tier.
The experience should have stood them in good stead but, despite apparently strengthening their squads, the three teams were now familiar to opposing sides and ended up relegated back to the League Championship at the end of the subsequent season.
Manager Roy Keane's plan to avoid a repeat has involved spending money. Lots of money.
Keane offered Tottenham a reported 23 million pounds for Teemu Tainio, Pascal Chimbonda, Steed Malbranque and Younes Kaboul, and signed all but Kaboul.
Goalkeeper Nick Colgan, Senegal forward El-Hadji Diouf and midfielder David Meyler have also joined, while an offer for Manchester United striker Louis Saha has also been rumored.
"We have signed some exciting players and hopefully the fans are looking forward to seeing them," Keane said. "They will offer something different."
It all represents a huge investment for a club that less than two years ago was at the bottom of the League Championship, but one that will be more than worth it if the club stays up.
Sunderland fans have already seen what can happen when their team is relegated, with players such as Julio Arca, Thomas Sorensen, Kevin Phillips, Claudio Reyna and Emerson Thome all being sold off following the most recent falls in 2003 and '06.
"The Premier League is difficult, we all know that," Malbranque said. "But if we work hard, I'm sure we can get some good results."
The signing of Malbranque, Tainio and Chimbonda is reminiscent of a move by Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp almost three years ago, when he took Pedro Mendes, Sean Davis and Noe Pamarot from Spurs in January to help keep his team in the league.
The trio played a key role in leading Portsmouth to 17th place, and the club has since gone on to become an established Premier League side, even winning last season's FA Cup for its first title in 58 years.
That may be beyond Sunderland, which will have to cope without key striker Kenwyne Jones for the first two months of the season after he had knee surgery.
But a passionate home crowd, a manager who learned from playing under Alex Ferguson and Brian Clough, and a fistful of cash should mean the Black Cats at least stay in the Premier League and could even improve on last season's 15th place.
And that would represent enough success for now.
