Sunderland in a sorry state and Moyes has no answer
DAVID MOYeS would be forgiven for thinking he has picked the wrong club. His already weary words certainly betray frustration at the sorry state of Sunderland.
A club where a highly- rated academy boss quit on Friday because of his dismay at the development — or lack of it — of promising youngsters.
A club where a chief executive was forced to quit in March over her incompetent handling of the Adam Johnson child sex case.
A club where the manager and sporting director quit on the same weekend last season, fearing relegation and a damaged reputation amid annoyance at the lack of support from owner ellis Short.
In short, the club is a mess and Moyes, you suspect, knows it.
‘I think we’re probably paying the price for not recruiting earlier,’ he said after Saturday’s 3-2 defeat at home to Crystal Palace, where his side led 2- 0 after an hour.
‘But what would you say about the year before or the year before that? Would you say they were paying the price for recruitment then, or are there other reasons?’
Moyes (above) believes there are other aggravating factors within the club. He recently said: ‘There is something else wrong here and I’m no closer to identifying it.’
For now, though, he must concern himself with a side which has one point from six games.
‘Ultimately you have to have good players on the pitch and at the moment we’re not getting enough good players on the pitch,’ he said. ‘We’re struggling to win games but the club’s been in that position last year and the year before. We’re working towards finding a team that can win.’
January, however, is 13 league games away, by which point this team could be too far adrift.
Moyes needs to work with what he’s got, and quick. The thoughts of Jan Kirchhoff are honest, yet alarming. ‘We led 2-0 but obviously we didn’t all have the same idea about what to do next,’ said the German.
‘It feels as if we had two different ideas on the pitch, especially when it was 2-1 and that is not good. We threw it away. At home, it should not be possible to lose the game.’
This is starting to feel like mission impossible for Moyes. SUPER STAT: Sunderland have not won a Premier League game before October since 2012. SUNDERLAND (4-2-3-1): Pickford 7; Manquillo 5.5, Kone 6, Djilobodji 5, Van Aanholt 4.5; Cattermole 6 (McNair 85min), Kirchhoff 6; Ndong 6, Pienaar (Watmore 15, 6.5), Januzaj 5.5 (Anichebe 85); Defoe 7.5. Subs not used: Denayer, Khazri, Mika, O’Shea. Scorer: Defoe 39, 60. CRYSTAL PALACE (4-1-4-1): Mandanda 5; Ward 6, Tomkins 6.5, Delaney 6, Kelly 6 (Fryers 75, 6.5); Ledley 6; Puncheon 7 (Lee 90), McArthur 7, Cabaye 5 (Wickham 73, 6.5), Townsend 6.5; Benteke 7. Subs not used: Hennessey, Mutch, Sako, Wynter. Booked: Cabaye, Puncheon. Scorers: Ledley 61, McArthur 76, Benteke 90. Man of the match: Jermain Defoe. Referee: Anthony Taylor 6.