"I don't think Sunderland will be anywhere near the relegation zone," says sports journalist Ian Murtagh, despite Regis le Bris' side "entering the unknown" after securing European football. The Black Cats have gone from the third tier of English football to the Premier League, and now the Europa League, in just four years. "But it is lazy punditry to talk about second season syndrome. "People are casting their minds back to when Ipswich Town qualified for Europe and then were relegated from the top-flight. "But, if you look across Premier League history, only four or five sides have been relegated in their second season - and I don't think Sunderland will be anywhere near the relegation zone.