Blame transfer woes, injuries, Sam’s exit and lack of goals...
IT ALL SEEMED TO GO WRONG FOR CATS
SUNDERLAND’S relegation has been confirmed and the inquest into what went wrong on Wearside will run and run.
Here, we take a look at some of the causes behind Sunderland’s slide into the Championship.
ENGLAND COME CALLING, EXIT BIG SAM
This was the biggest single factor. England’s abject failure at Euro 2016 spelled the end for Roy Hodgson, and Sam Allardyce was the outstanding English candidate to take on the job.a
But the appointment turned into a drawn-out affair, which saw Allardyce leaving Sunderland’s training camp in Austria for an interview, then returning to work on Wearside, and after days of uncertainty the FA finally confirmed his appointment on July 22.
David Moyes was appointed the next day, but he took over midway through pre-season with the Premier League kick-off just three weeks away.
SUMMER TRANSFER SCRAMBLE
Not only was the start of the season close at hand, when Moyes took over not a single new player had been signed and the transfer window had only six weeks to run.
A new transfer strategy had to be devised from scratch and it became a race against time to bring in new players.
As a result, Sunderland’s squad was nowhere near fully-formed when the season began at Manchester City on August 12, and the search for new players had to be continued throughout that month while the attention should have been focused on the first three games of the campaign.
In short, Sunderland were not ready when the season got under way and that contributed to the club’s ten-game winless start.
A BUDGET THAT WOULDN’T STRETCH...
Allardyce took one look at the budget that was on offer to revamp the squad last summer, and refused to commit himself to the cause. He knew that the amount of cash on offer – a shade less than £30m – was nowhere near enough to plug the gaps in a squad that needed around 10 players just to bring it up to strength in terms of numbers, never mind upgrading those already there.
AND THAT WAS SPENT BADLY
Moyes’ signings last summer were poor. Of the summer intake, only £14m midfielder Didier Ndong could be described as a success.
The £7m spent on defender Papy Djilobodji looks like money down the drain, while the £5m spent on Paddy McNair and Donald Love was invested more for the future than the here and now.
Steven Pienaar cost nothing but has contributed little; Victor Anichebe was also a freebie and has been a useful addition – but has spent much of the campaign injured.
Portuguese goalkeeper Mika was signed as back-up when Vito Mannone was injured and has not kicked a ball.
Of the loans, Adnan Januzaj was supposed to be the star signing but the Manchester United man has been a massive flop, Man City defender Jason Denayer has done OK, and Atletico Madrid full-back Javi Manquillo could not displace Billy Jones at right-back and has spent much of the season on the bench.
A TREATMENT ROOM RESEMBLING A&E ON BLACK EYE FRIDAY
Sunderland have endured horrendous injury problems – and with a squad so lacking in quality at the best of times, they could not afford to be without so many of their better players.
Jan Kirchhoff was one of the heroes of last season’s side but has barely kicked a ball. Lee Cattermole underwent an operation in September and did not return until April.
McNair and Duncan Watmore saw their seasons cut short due to cruciate ligament injuries in November and December respectively.
Fabio Borini was out for three months early in the season, Seb Larsson did not play until December, goalkeepers Vito Mannone and Jordan Pickford both missed a chunk of the campaign, Victor Anichebe was out for three months, Steven Pienaar has struggled with persistent injuries, as has Jack Rodwell.
NO JANUARY CAVALRY
Allardyce spent around £15m to bring Kirchhoff, Lamine Kone, and Wahbi Khazri to the club last January, and they made all the difference in the second half of the season. This time round the club failed to strengthen in the New Year. Money that Moyes had expected to be available did not materialise, and it took the £14m sale of Patrick van Aanholt to generate any cash at all. Bryan Oviedo was signed to replace van Aanholt, arriving along with midfielder Darron Gibson in a £7.5m joint deal, while free agent Joleon Lescott arrived on a shortterm deal as cover for a squad stretched to breaking point by injuries and – at that point – Africa Cup of Nations call-ups. Moyes was desperate to sign a striker in the window to replace the injured Anichebe, but saw several targets fall through and then Leicester City’s refusal to let Leonardo Ulloa leave snuffed out his last hope.
Allardyce took one look at the budget that was on offer to revamp the squad last summer and refused to commit himself
DEFOE’S DROUGHT
Sunderland reliance on Defoe in front of goal this season has been near-total.
Of Sunderland’s 26 Premier League goals, Defoe has contributed 14 – Anichebe and van Aanholt are in joint-second place with three apiece. But after Defoe scored twice to put Crystal Palace to the sword in February, his goals have dried up.
Defoe has gone 945 minutes without finding the net for Sunderland.
And with no-one stepping up to share the burden, Sunderland have failed to score in nine of those last ten games.