Wise Men Say: Is David Moyes still the right man for the Sunderland job?

At least he now knows how most Sunderland fans feel at the sound of every final whistle at the moment.

Gallows humour aside, there really isn’t much to laugh about if you’re a Black Cats supporter.

Defeat away to the Saints was hardly a hammer blow, and while you can debate long and hard about whether or not it was a penalty – Mr Moyes clearly felt so, he was sent to the stands over it – the fact remains we were unable to beat what was largely a second-string Southampton side.

I find myself stuck for an answer at the moment with regards to whether Sunderland should stick with the manager or cut their losses and move on.

At so early in Moyes’ tenure it would seem like a knee-jerk reaction to sack him, and there will be those who argue that sacking manager after manager is one of the reasons we find ourselves in the role of perennial relegation battlers.

On the flip side of the coin, can anyone really argue that any of the sackings during Ellis Short’s reign haven’t been warranted.

Big Sam left for England, Dick Advocaat walked away as did Roy Keane (does anyone else still miss Roy?), Di Canio suffered a players’ revolt, and I’d argue that Gus Poyet, Martin O’Neill and Steve ‘Is it because I’m a Geordie’ Bruce had all been found wanting by the time they were axed.

Yes, Sunderland need to build, yes Sunderland need stability, but then you need to have the right man at the post to do that.

Is that man Moyes? I’d like to say yes, but from what I’ve seen so far I can’t.

Yes I’m prepared to give him time (good of me I know), but you have to say some of his decisions so far on and off the field have been hard to buy into.

His summer signings may come good in the long run, although I won’t hold my breath, but what seems abundantly clear to me is that they are more fringe players than Premier League regulars, and that is a luxury I believe we can’t afford.

His brutal-honest truth at the start of his Sunderland career may have been good for column inches and headlines, but it hasn’t sat well with the majority of supporters, and I can only second guess how it made the players feel.

We keep hearing from pundits and former players that something is rotten in the state of Sunderland, and to be honest you wouldn’t disagree.

But if something is so glaringly obvious, how the hell is it taking so long to pinpoint and put it right.

I’m slightly ashamed to admit that this season I have already started to think ‘whatever will be will be’.

Defeat after defeat, abject display after abject display can leave you feeling punch drunk as a fan, and it’s getting to the stage where I’m almost feeling numb to the misery.

I came home from the match the other week to my six-week-old baby daughter. Sitting through Match of The Day while I gave Freya her bottle, I whispered a quiet apology to her for the years of misery to come following the lads.

It really is that bad at the minute.

* The Wise Men Say podcast is available from every Monday, with SAFC debate from a variety of guests and post-match reaction from David Moyes. You can stream it direct from wisemensay.co.uk or subscribe to it on iTunes