With Sunderland now an established Premier League team, boss Steve Bruce is now up for the challenge of bringing silverware to the Stadium of Light.
The Black Cats climbed into the last European place last month and although they have lost their last three, Bruce believes a top seven finish is still achievable.
"The club has had fantastic support from the owner, but I think that's exactly what it needs if it's going to make that breakthrough where it becomes genuinely successful," he told the Northern Echo.
"There's a pressure in the North East that's created by the size of the crowds and that's one of the challenges any manager faces when he comes here.
"I think that the only way to break that cycle is to bring in the sort of genuine, top quality players who can take it in their stride.
"I think that's what has held so many North East teams of the past back - the fact that they've had the crowds, they've had the expectations, but it is very difficult to live up to that if the squad just isn't good enough.
"And the challenge for managers in building a top club in the North East - that pressure is always on - whatever success you bring, the crowds are big enough to want and expect more. That's quite a pressure, but it's what makes the challenge so attractive.
"There are some clubs where the fanbase is such that just staying in the Premier League will see you hailed as a success. But in the big two in the North East, it has been very rare in the modern era that the quality of the teams has managed to reflect the quality of the size and passion of the home crowds.
"That's why, I think, the North East has found it hard to create sustained success at the top of the table. But what a great challenge to take on, and I've got to say that I'm happy with the direction we're going in at the moment, where we've got someone like Asamoah Gyan at the club, who was a World Player of the Year nominee."
Bruce added, "I don't think there's any denying that we're getting a top quality squad here now, and you need that up here.
"You have to be able to handle the ball and not take notice of the crowd and we have players who have that confidence.
"The results might not have been the greatest of late, but we've had terrible injury problems which are now starting to ease and I know that, as a squad and as a club, we're heading in the right direction."
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