Sunderland boss Gus Poyet is happy with the make-up of his squad this season.
Poyet now says the team is under his control and there will be less of the wild fluctuations experienced in the immediate aftermath of Paolo Di Canio's madcap regime.
Poyet said: "When I first came here the biggest challenge for me was to develop more consistency.
"It is impossible to be high all the time, but the thing was to be not so up and down. There were moments last season when I was thinking we were there and really close, then bang! We would make a mistake, or two mistakes and then there would be a sending off. Then we would have another good spell and then another bad one.
"In general, the sendings off were coming because we were getting frustrated at not being able to do things. Wes Brown's dismissal against Aston Villa last season was a good example of that.
"That was frustration in the last minute of the game. Something always seemed to happen. We would be giving the ball away for the opposition to score. When it happens you think, how is that possible?
"Now it feels like a new start because we have had a proper pre-season and we have got new players and a new belief. Hopefully now we can be more consistent."
