Is Cats’ squad good enough & what next for Parkinson?
Sunderland supporters are eagerly waiting for news on a potential takeover of the club.
There has also been much to discuss on the pitch, with Sunderland’s performances raising some concerns, with some supporters asking if Phil Parkinson is the right man to lead Sunderland's promotion push out of League One in light of the takeover.
Phil Smith has been taking questions from fans on all the latest, and you can read his answers below.
What next for Phil Parkinson and will the takeover have any impact?
The table still feels a little misleading at this stage, but is obviously concerning nevertheless.
Sunderland are eighth but they remain in touching distance of the top two.
That, though, is where they need to be.
There have been too many missed opportunities over the last eighteen months and it is fair to point out that the rationale from the board in replacing Jack Ross with Parkinson was to get into that top two.
Sunderland look to be a definite top-six team, but right now you couldn't mark them out as a top-two team with any great deal of confidence.
That is an obvious issue in what, rightly, has been set out by everyone at the club as a season in which Sunderland need to finally lift themselves back into the Championship.
There needs to be a significant improvement to demonstrate that can happen with the current set up.
The underlying data (expected goals, expected goals a g a i n s t , etc ) i s ge n e ra l l y good, but there's a key point to be made here.
S i n c e th e Po rt s m outh game, in which Sunderland were comprehensively outplayed, that has dropped off significantly.
D e f e n s ive l y t h e y h ave been far weaker and that has exposed the lack of goals.
Yes, there have been some key chances missed in games, but they are not a team that
has been working the opposition goalkeeper anywhere near enough (which the manager has conceded).
W h e n th e re su l t s a n d performances dip, that then c r ys ta l l i s e s th e c o n c e r n s over the long-term direction.
The trip to Fleetwood feels like a big game, with the fixture list then presenting two home fixtures against Burton Albion and Wigan Athletic sides that are really struggling.
In terms of the takeover, it's quite a difficult one to gauge.
It's worth remembering that Stewart Donald, while clearly still key as the majority shareholder, has devolved a lot of the day-to-day decisions since stepping down as chair of the board.
We saw the effects of that in the summer, when Paul Reid, Tony Coton and Richard Hill all left the club.
So the influence of figures like Jim Rodwell will be key.
Clearly, though, a potential takeover makes things more complicated.
What happens next with the takeover?
Any deal will be subject to the EFL Owners and Directors Test.
The EFL recently changes its rules so that this hurdle must be cleared before any deal is rubber-stamped.
Only at that point could
the parties involved conclude any deals officially.
There is no time frame placed on the test, and that is particularly worth considering given the challenges the EFL is currently facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of course, Donald, Methven and Sartori have all already passed the test, and so if the deal progressed as outlined, it would only be Louis-Dreyfus (or any other party involved) who would need to be assessed.
Donald agreeing to sell a significant portion of his shares does not at this stage mean that a deal is done.
There is still some way to go before that point, and that there has been no club comment underlines the fact that nothing is concluded at this point.
Do you think the current crop of players are good enough and would they perform better under different management?
I think that there are some key deficiencies in the squad, that would present a challenge for any manager.
The lack of pace is the most obvious one.
Denver Hume can hurt teams from deep when he as possession, and we have seen that over a relatively long period of time now, but otherwise there is definitely a gap there.
It was interesting that Phil Parkinson acknowledged this over the summer, identifying the ability to run in behind and stretch defences as a key reason for signing Aiden O'Brien.
I thought the Irishman started brightly and showed some signs of that, but the allimportant goal eluded him and he has been out of form recently.
We've seen that lack of pace exposed a little in recent weeks in the other two thirds, as well, with opposition teams getting some joy on the counter.
Generally, thoug h, th e squad is good enough and deep enough to maintain an automatic promotion push.
That has to be the expectation and fans are right to demand it.
It has been an interesting campaign in that, as has been well-versed, Sunderland have created some clear chances in games.
As such, their expected goals is very good and you can argue that they should have had more points from games earlier in the season.
Ye t t h e re i s d e f i n i t e l y room for significant attacking improvement, and getting the best out of Embleton and other attacking players is key.
The squad is capable of producing significantly better than what we have seen since the Portsmouth game.