FANS TO BE SOLD SHORT?

ELLIS SHORT cannot help the timing of the Sunderland sale, but equally he cannot underestimate its potential for harm. He has placed a deadline on negotiations with a German consortium, or any other interested parties, and says beyond that he will simply press on with plans for next season. That is unlikely to call anybody’s bluff, however. Sunderland have already missed out on their main managerial target, Aberdeen manager Derek McInnes, who no doubt decided he could do without auditioning for new owners. All but outgoing transfers are also in abeyance. It was a similar story at Hull last summer, waiting for a takeover that never came, the torpor contributing to relegation. Sunderland fans may think that is not their problem, having already gone down this year, but a chaotic summer could put another season in jeopardy. The Championship is a very volatile league and it is not unthinkable that Sunderland struggle again. Look at the clubs scrapping at the bottom last season: Birmingham, Nottingham Forest, Blackburn. Size is no guarantee of survival.