Behind the Cats scenes, things are beginning to take shape
Towardstheturnoftheyear, Methven had discussed embarking on a process of ‘building back up’ in light of the £9 million injection from the FPP group.Thatdeal,whichhadinitially been floated as a sale, followed the collapsed talks with Mark Campbell’s consortium in the summer.
The consequences of that were significant in losing Jack Ross valuable time in preparingforthenewcampaign.Concerns over the club’s strategy were exacerbated by boardroom departures.
ManagingDirectorTonyDavison left the club and was followed by Methven.
Weeks later, Methven issued an apology for comments made at a summit with supporters shortly before his departure for family reasons.
At the time, Juan Sartori was said to be stepping up his involvementintheclubfollowing a failed attempt to win his political party’s presidential nomination in Uruguay.
However, he was subsequentlyelectedasasenatorand has not been seen on Wearside since the opening day of the season. The club had previouslyoptedagainstappointing aChiefExecutivetooverseeoperations on Wearside on a dayto-day basis.
The saga of last January stood as a stark description of whyRosssoconsistentlycalled for greater structure and strategyinthefootballingoperation throughout his tenure.
Donald has subsequently moved to address this by appointing Jim Rodwell as CEO.
In the short-term, the COVID-19 crisis will be his primary focusbuthisbriefistoimprove the situation at the club until a credible bidder emerges.
Donald had also moved to address the void at boardroom levelshortlybeforethefanprotest, appointing Tom Sloanes and David Jones as non-executiveroles.Joneshadalreadydiscussed his intention to ensure there is a ‘modern’ operation in place, and this is something that Rodwell is also going to take a very keen interest in.
Shortly before his arrival, Sunderland had begun to expand a scouting network that had been almost entirely strippedbackintheaftermath of relegation to League One.
The club’s academy scouting and recruitment network is also in the process of being revamped.
The academy has crucially held onto Category One status, though there have remained major difficulties in retaining talentbeforetheycanbesigned up on professional terms.
In terms of the picture surroundingapotentialsale,Donald has suggested that the FPP group could become ‘fully engaged’ if Sunderland are successful, though at this stage they are still yet to comment publicly on their intentions.
At this stage, it seems certain that the current hierarchy will be in place as is until a new owner steps forward.