The Black Cats managed a 3-0 win at West Ham, while Newcastle only managed a 3-3 draw at home to West Brom.
“I’m delighted for us and all Sunderland fans. We set out to be in the top 10 and we’ve had a pretty awful three months,” he said.
“We’ve put in back-to-back victories away from home, I thought we were well worth it today, and to go up four places, to finish above Newcastle for the third time in the last three years is obviously very pleasing for the supporters.
“To finish in the top 10, for the third time in 55 years I believe, shows we’ve made a bit of progress and the next step is can we keep improving?
“We’ve been badly injured and badly hampered by the loss of key players but to finish in the top 10 is very, very pleasing. I’m delighted for the club.”
“We’ve got to strengthen the squad. We’ve got to knock the door and ask for more, that’s my job,” he remarked.
“I’ll sit down with the board. We went in to bat with five loan players, we’ve made one of them permanent but we’ve still got decisions on (Nedum) Onuoha, (Jonathan) Mensah and Danny Welbeck – I expect him to go back to Manchester United.
“I’ll make a decision on Mensah this week in the cold light of day.”
He added: “I’ve been linked with about 50 players. My job is to keep improving us. We’ll see what we’ve got to spend.”
