Sunderland plot return – without the plastic plants
Crazy spending on fake flowers is just one habit being kicked in League One, writes Jason Mellor
Slowly, Sunderland are rebuilding from the rubble. Rebuilding their reputation, their self-confidence and their standing within the game, all of which have been left in a state of utter disrepair. Jack Ross did not have the toughest of acts to follow when, three months ago, he became the club’s 10th manager in seven years. And in terms of succeeding Ellis Short, Stewart Donald has plenty of leeway if he is to avoid challenging the American financier’s unenviable position as Sunderland’s most unpopular owner, albeit one who wiped out the club’s debts before departing.
As Short’s apathy took hold, a city that had happily aligned itself with the pro-brexit campaign, saw its football team accomplish, according to Wearside gallows humour, Prexit, swiftly followed by Chexit, with consecutive relegations in the space of 12 disastrous months. The bar on fans’ expectations is set to zero as the new regime continues to assess the mammoth task at hand.
The club’s executive director Charlie Methven yesterday revealed some startling facts about the mess they inherited when taking over this summer.
This included employing just over twice as many people as neighbours Newcastle but not a single person selling sponsorship and paying £1,000-a-month to rotate plastic plants around the various rooms at the stadium and club offices. When the club spent £30,000 to commission a report from an external branding company on what Sunderland represented, they were told it was “an old-fashioned football club”.
Still, the Carabao Cup first-round exit to Sheffield Wednesday notwithstanding, Sunderland have made an encouraging start to only their second season in English football’s third tier. They are unbeaten in their first two League games ahead of the visit by Scunthorpe tomorrow.
Gary Bennett, who captained the club to the Division Three title in 1988, remains cautiously optimistic that the class of 2018 can emulate the feats of Denis Smith’s squad.
“Football’s moved on and it’ll be a lot harder to get out of this division now,” the 56-year-old said. “You have to cope with the physicality. The players you come up against may not have your ability, but they’re big and strong and they’ll run for 90 minutes. Nobody likes change, but change has been necessary here over the summer, and they have ridden the storm, if you like. They now have a group of players they can build around in terms of getting some momentum and team spirit.”
On a modest budget provided by Donald, an Oxfordshire-based businessman for whom this level is uncharted territory, given that he took charge after selling his controlling interest in National League side Eastleigh this summer, Ross has brought in 12 additions to help hone a playing staff who look well equipped to compete at this level, while he has also helped usher out numerous big earners. “The encouraging thing is that from what we’re beginning to see on the pitch, the players are taking on board the messages we’re trying to get across,” he said. Supporters are buying into the new era, too. More than 31,000 turned up for the stoppage-time opening-day win against Charlton, while the first three away trips this season all sold out. Subs Booked Swansea City
Subs Booked Referee