Sunderland boss Gus Poyet has conceding his club have to work overtime to attract top-quality players to the north-east. Former Black Cats boss Roy Keane launched an infamous tirade in August 2007 along similar lines.
The mild-mannered Poyet did not go quite that far but he would did acknowledge that geographical issues will make the job of luring improvements to the Stadium of Light in January all the more difficult.
"When you give certain types of players the option of going to London or the north-east in the same conditions, 99 from 100 will choose London and that's the reality.
"We have to be a step ahead - we have to do things better than those clubs in the south or in other countries in a nice place with different weather.
"We need to do something that will convince them to come to the north. On top of that it is even more difficult in January because clubs don't want to lose their best players, so everything needs to come together."
