New owners must avoid mistakes of the past if Sunderland AFC is to fulfil its huge potential

Short leaving Sunderland football club isn’t a shock, he was desperate to get the club off his hands but the timing took me by surprise as did the news that manager Chris Coleman had been sacked.

You could say we are going into next season with a clean slate and crucially the most important part of it all is Sunderland by all reports will be debt free.

Sunderland’s massive debt has been like a weight hanging over the club so if that is wiped out Sunderland can finally operate on an even keel and hopefully can have money to spend during the summer.

Who that man with the responsibility to spend that money and shape the team will be is anyone’s guess, as it is back to square one straight away as another manager is brought in who will have to start from scratch.

I wouldn’t have been disappointed had Coleman remained in charge.

He always came over as if he was genuinely honoured and privileged to be Sunderland manager and at least he knows the players, what areas need strengthening and it would have kept some sort of continuity.

However, on the flip side to that, the new boss won’t have the same stigma of relegation held against him and hopefully whoever he is, he can lift not only the team but the fans as well, although knowing our fan base, just win a couple of pre-season games and they will be flying and ready to go.

Sunderland’s decline happened on Ellis Short’s watch and he has to take the blame for that but he is not the only one who had contributed to Sunderland’s demise, there is plenty of blame to go around.

Various managers, players, heads of recruitment and directors of football have come and gone after usually failing in their jobs but at least Ellis Short has cleared the debt before leaving and for that we can be thankful.

So, yet another new era for Sunderland and it is up to the new regime to make the right calls, chose the right options and make the correct decisions for a change and only then can Sunderland finally fulfil its huge potential.