Worse to come for woeful Black Cats
RELEGATION ALMOST CERTAIN AFTER LOSS
WITH nine games remaining, and their quota of miracles already used up, Sunderland are in the process of bidding farewell to the Premier League.
It will be a while yet before the mathematics confirm the all-but inevitable, but Sunderland fans already know where this season is heading.
The depressing defeat at Watford was just one more nail in the coffin.
It is not worth dwelling on the specifics at Vicarage Road.
Suffice to say that Sunderland’s failure to score for a fifth successive game means they are now in the midst of their longest top-flight goal drought for 35 years, while at the other end, they conceded yet another soft goal from a set-piece.
I try to avoid the post-match inquest into tactics and team selection because it takes place through the prism of hindsight, and no one can be certain what – if any – effect different decisions would have had on the outcome.
But David Moyes has come under heavy fire for leaving Didier Ndong out of the starting XI for a second successive game, and the midfielder’s strong performances after coming off the bench in the last two games have certainly suggested that he should have been on the pitch from the start. Wahbi Khazri’s 20-minute outing this weekend, on the other hand, did nothing to enhance his case for a place in the side. The bigger pic-
ture is that a toxic atmosphere has developed – on social media at least, although there is no sign as yet of it spreading to the terraces – with Moyes’ future the focal point.
And the battle lines are drawn.
In one camp, there are those who believe that constant managerial upheaval is the root cause of the club’s struggles against relegation, and stability is the only cure.
In the other are those who accept that constant managerial upheaval is at the root of the problem, agree that stability is the cure, but still advocate just one more change before implementing the solution.
There is no easy answer because some fans simply believe Moyes is the wrong man.
But no manager is ever universally popular. Any replacement for Moyes would also have his supporters and his detractors. And what if Sunderland continue to struggle after that ‘final’ change? Well, maybe there’ll have to be a ‘final, final’ change in 12 months’ time. And maybe one more after that. And so the instability, and Sunderland’s downward spiral, would continue.
The truth is that the club has been allowed to fall into such a state of disrepair – on and off the field – that no manager appointed last summer could undo five years of neglect in 12 months, while keeping the club in the Premier League, and operating with a very limited budget.
And the sad fact is that, for Sunderland, things will get worse before they can get better.
A toxic atmosphere has developed – on social media at least – with Moyes’ future the focal point James Hunter