Chris Young: Sunderland are now playing tough game of catch-up, despite David Moyes arrival

The terse club statement which followed Allardyce’s formal exit spoke volumes about Ellis Short’s indignation at having to appoint a seventh manager in the space of five years, despite last season’s remarkable Premier League survival.

There was no expression of gratitude towards Allardyce, nor any well-wishing for his new job.

However, Short’s temper has surely been massaged by finally snaring the manager whom he has spent years coveting; the one who has the track record in that elusive factor in Sunderland’s recent history – top-half Premier League stability on a budget.

New Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain (what a baptism of fire he’s faced in his first three-and-a-half weeks in the job) certainly looked suitably pleased at confirming Moyes’s arrival so soon after Allardyce’s departure as he took a seat alongside the ex-Everton boss in the New York Stadium directors’ box.

Likewise, Moyes was all smiles at Rotherham – immediately giving a thumbs-up to the 3,000 boisterous souls in the away end and persistently fulfilling their requests for a wave.

It was a coy touch from the 53-year-old to head pitch-side after the final whistle and salute those supporters. Those are the king of gestures which make all the difference to the paying public.

But the pleasantries and back-slapping swiftly stop for Sunderland now.

For all Sunderland have put the tiresome saga surrounding Allardyce finally behind them and acted with laudable haste in appointing Moyes, the Black Cats are still facing a race against the clock.

Moyes’s to-do list runs over several sides of A4.

The emergency landing and lengthy delay that the Sunderland squad faced at Manchester Airport yesterday won’t have been wasted time for the Scot.

There are fewer than three weeks to go until the start of the season and there are STILL no new faces on board.

What’s more, the manager has had just 48 hours to famliarise himself with his players and must decide whether to overhaul his backroom team.

On some levels, it’s an advantage to Moyes that Allardyce didn’t make any signings this summer. It gives the new man a blank canvas and the whole of the transfer kitty to land four or five that are more to his tastes.

But even if Allardyce was able to lay the groundwork on several possible new arrivals, Sunderland are still going to have enter the market at breakneck speed now, as Moyes sanctions those injections of quality that the side so clearly needs.

It was another bright, sharp display from Sunderland at Rotherham – with the front four again full of ideas as they persistently interchanged positions – yet the depth of the Black Cats’ squad is a huge cause for concern.

There were only five first-teamers missing – Euro 2016 pair John O’Shea and Seb Larsson, along with Jan Kirchhoff, Lee Cattermole and Billy Jones, who were all left out as a precaution.

But Sunderland were still forced to field Under-23s right-back Josh Robson and trialist Charles N’Zogbia. That’s the ramifications of losing four loan players, plus out-of-contract Wes Brown, at the end of last season.

Actually, Robson and N’Zogbia were two of Sunderland’s better performers as the Black Cats made it two wins out of two pre-season outings.

Robson kept things simple at right-back and showed few signs of defensive vulnerability, while N’Zogbia was vastly improved from the off-the-pace 45 minutes witnessed at Hartlepool United three days earlier.

N’Zogbia laid on the opening goal just before the interval when he won the ball on halfway and produced an angled, raking pass over the top of the Rotherham defence for Fabio Borini, who brought it under control and hit a half-volley that Millers keeper Lee Camp couldn’t keep out.

After Jerry Yates had equalised for Rotherham just 19 seconds into the second half, it was N’Zogbia who restored Sunderland’s lead with five minutes to go.

The Frenchman collected Robson’s square ball on the edge of the area and hit a snorting, low, left-footed drive towards the near post which left Camp with no chance.

That strike secured a deserved victory for Sunderland, who were persistently the more threatening of the two sides, albeit the tempo suffered in the second half amid a raft of substitutions.

But although N’Zogbia was among the party which enjoyed an event-filled journey to France yesterday, there have to be grave doubts over whether the 30-year-old will sign a permanent contract at Sunderland after his career plummeted to such depths at Aston Villa.

He could perhaps be an option as a squad player, but the former Newcastle man not going to greatly improve the standards of a side that still finished fourth-bottom last season, despite the euphoria of the final few weeks of the campaign.

Finding those players who can make a tangible difference over the next month or so is going to play a huge part in determining whether Moyes can immediately fulfil the faith and high hopes being placed in him.

Rotherham: Camp, Kelly, Broadfoot, Wood, Mattock (Thorpe 36), Forde, Smallwood (Bailey-King 78), Halford (Forster-Caskey 41), Frecklington (Dawson 69), Ward (Muskwe 87), Yates. Sub not used: Price.

Sunderland: Pickford (Mannone 46), J Robson, Kone (E Robson 85), Kaboul (Ledger 78), van Aanholt, Rodwell, Lens (Greenwood 87), N’Zogbia, Khazri (Gooch 65), Borini (Watmore 56), Defoe (Honeyman 75). Subs not used: T Robson, Asoro, Stryjek.

Attendance: 6,676 (2,979 away)

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