Club is poor on the field and incompetent off it

WHY always Sunderland? A club which gets very little right on the field has long since proven itself to be equally incompetent off it. From their handling of the Adam Johnson child-sex case to the fascism row in the wake of Paolo Di Canio’s appointment, this club and their supporters have suffered at the hands of some gross mis-management in recent years. And here we are again. Manager David Moyes will not be sacked nor punished by his employers for his crass and aggressive comments to a female interviewer, who had merely asked a perfectly reasonable question. Let’s get one thing straight here as well — Moyes was not ‘joking’ when he threatened to slap the BBC’s Vicki Sparks. Her laughter in response was born of awkwardness and shock, not hilarity. Sunderland owner Ellis Short and chief executive Martin Bain knew about their manager’s offensive behaviour within 48 hours of the incident on March 18. But they, it appears, were happy for the whole affair to be swept under the carpet. Even now, having brought the club into disrepute and with an FA charge almost certain, there will be no internal reprimand. Moyes has apologised, of course, and his actions do not warrant any comparison with the unrepentant Johnson’s. From a club perspective, however, it is worth remembering how former chief executive Margaret Byrne stood by Johnson despite being aware of his guilt — over grooming and kissing a 15-year-old girl — nine months before he went to trial. Byrne eventually resigned, admitting she had made a ‘serious error of judgment’ in allowing Johnson to continue playing for the club. She was also involved in an unsavoury civil case brought by a former employee claiming wrongful dismissal in December 2015. It was alleged then that Short said he would ‘appoint the devil’ if it meant staying in the Premier League, a reference to the arrival of Di Canio in 2013. Then vice-chairman David Miliband, the former Labour MP, resigned from his position because of Di Canio’s past political statements in relation to fascism. Indeed, very few exemployees speak favourably of the running of the club, most notably former managers Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane. Morale among those currently working at the club is at rock bottom after 90 jobs were put at risk in February, the news delivered in the same week that the first-team squad enjoyed a five-day break in New York. That, says the club, was an unfortunate coincidence. But it begs the question — why always Sunderland?