It is still a little too soon for the alarm bells to start ringing or for panic buttons to be frantically pressed by fans still trying to pay for their season tickets, but I'm starting to worry about Sunderland ahead of the new season.
Having just about avoided yet another immediate return to the Championship last season, Roy Keane spoke confidently of developing the club over the summer, trimming the dead or dying wood from his squad and investing in players who would be able to take the team on to the next level - in other words keep them clear of the bottom three and, possibly, just possibly, give them an outside chance of a top eight finish.
It was always a bold plan in keeping with their young and ambitious manager, but it looks like a ludicrous one at the moment as Sunderland supporters continue to wait for news of the first new signing.
With more than six weeks of the transfer window remaining there is still enough time to recruit the five or six players needed to improve the squad sufficiently, but it is starting to look unlikely they will arrive in time and that does not bode well.
As things stand, Sunderland are a hardworking, dedicated side with a manager who has managed to consistently get the best out of the players at his disposal, but will that be enough for a second season in the top flight?
It wasn't for Reading after they failed to make the necessary additions to their squad 12 months ago following an encouraging first season in the Premier League! Reading will not be missed - nothing club from a nothing town near London - but Sunderland should be wary of treading a similar path.
Sunderland desperately need two new centre backs, a left-back, two creative midfielders and a striker. Some would argue they need even more than that, but the market is proving to be a tough place for the Black Cats to operate and frustration is gradually growing on Wearside.
They are not the only ones, of course, but Keane must be starting to get a little concerned about the lack of progress being made. The likes of Darren Bent, Jonny Evans and Andy Johnson would all be good additions to the side, but none of them look as though they will be wearing the red and white stripes next season, preferring to either stay where they are or move to another Premier League club.
As ever, Sunderland have been linked with a ridiculous number of players, both at home and abroad, in the last few weeks - and not all of them are Irish or have played for Manchester United - but it is time for the speculation to start turning into something a little more concrete.
If new signings do not come in sufficient numbers the Black Cats will be involved in another relegation battle and without the momentum which was with them at the start of last season following promotion, they are vulnerable.
The other worry is that, as the close of the window approaches, the danger is that players will be signed for the sake of it. No matter how hard a manager tries to avoid this particular pitfall, he knows the supporters and the players are anticipating new arrivals and sometimes the temptation is to sign someone you hope can do a job for you, rather than someone you know will.
Keane has some previous here as well. Rade Prica, for example, cost £2.5m in January but has still not started a game for the club. Other summer signings like Russell Anderson and Greg Halford have also been notable failures and, for all of the money spent in his two years at the Stadium of Light, the jury is out on his judgement in the transfer market.
On a brighter note, Keane's most successful signing last year was Kenwyne Jones and he didn't arrive on Wearside until the final week before the window closed having started the season with former club Southampton. A handful of signings of his calibre in the coming weeks and we'll be wondering what all the fuss was about!
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