Alarm bells ringing at Sunderland with pressure mounting on Phil Parkinson and Stewart Donald and fans fearing worst is yet to come

Twitter exploded.

A significant chunk describing the team selected by Phil Parkinson as the worst Sunderland XI ever.

A bold claim given the club’s recent history but understandable as Parkinson gambled and rolled the dice with his team selection.

The travelling fans behind the goal equally baffled on the open terrace in the winter sunshine.

Sunderland, in desperate need of a win, started with a back five at Priestfield.

And it was a back five. Conor McLaughlin and Laurens De Bock rarely got past the halfway line, they didn’t seem encouraged to do so either.

The wing-back system would have suited Denver Hume but he was dropped to the bench, despite Hume being one of the few shining lights of recent weeks.

Sunderland, clearly, were set up not to lose. They couldn’t even manage that.

Parkinson had plenty of attacking options on the bench in Charlie Wyke, Chris Maguire, Aiden McGeady and Duncan Watmore. Wyke came on, Maguire too but far too late.

Incredibly McGeady and Watmore, who could have stretched the game late on and added some much-needed width, creativity and pace, never made it off the bench.

Parkinson gambled with his team selection and it backfired.

So where does he go now?

What was most alarming was that Sunderland had had 10 days to work on this plan at the Academy of Light. And this was the best they could come up with.

Eight defeats from 12 games in all competitions since Parkinson took charge, out of all the cup competitions and dropping like a stone in the league. The statistics are damning.

Some fans, understandably, are now concerned Sunderland may keep dropping and become embroiled in a battle at the other end of the table. Unthinkable.

How did it reach this stage? And will Parkinson survive? His record makes for grim reading. And his comments post-match didn't help.

This one, in particular.

On the late defeat, he said: "It was a massive disappointment. We just had to see that set play through and if we got a point we’d have taken that all day.

“It was a blow to concede so late in the game. The lads gave us absolutely everything.”

You can debate the last point and why would a point against Gillingham ever be deemed acceptable.

To put it bluntly he could have few complaints if Sunderland owner Stewart Donald - himself coming under increasing pressure, scrutiny and fire from fed-up and frustrated fans - decided he'd made a mistake in hiring Parkinson.

He was brought in to oversee a promotion charge. Incredibly it has gone the other way. A string of dire performances, awful results and questionable tactics, team selections and substitutions.

Has a Sunderland fanbase ever turned so quickly on a new manager? The results of our Echo Big SAFC Survey were damning last week.

The vast majority of fans had no faith Parkinson will win promotion this season, a significant majority wanting Parkinson sacked already.

Some fans were waiting to see what improvements came following 10-days on the training ground. What the plan was? What identity Sunderland would forge?

Again they were treated to direct tactics with Will Grigg and Marc McNulty feeding off scraps. Grigg has been a huge disappointment since joining but these tactics don’t suit him.

Parkinson, when asked about his own future last week, revealed Sunderland had been stepping up their preparations for the January window and remained confident he had the backing of the board.

But who would want to join this Sunderland side in January? What calibre of signings are they going to be able to attract? And how much money will be made available?

Sunderland are currently a mid-table League One side, already 10 points off the top two and now five off the play-off places.

The chances of playing Championship football next season are slimming by the week. Sunderland AFC are in crisis.

Sacking managers is a costly business what with the inevitable backroom staff changes too.

Can Donald afford to sack two managers in a season, in the space of a matter of months, the second one would be an admission that he has made a big mistake.

The problems at Sunderland, of course, don’t just stop at the managers door. Far from it.

The recruitment team has been found wanting, the lack of structure on the football side alarming, two board members have already left this season and who runs the club day-to-day with no chief executive or managing director?

On and off the pitch, the past few months have not been good enough. Nowhere near.

Not good enough from Parkinson. Not good enough from Stewart Donald. Not good enough from the Sunderland squad.

The past few months, indeed the season as a whole, has been totally unacceptable, falling way below the standards the loyal and passionate fanbase expect and indeed deserve.

Tensions are rising. Make no mistake.

Parkinson avoids social media, he confirmed in the build-up, and no surprise either given the criticism coming his way.

The atmosphere at the Stadium of Light against Burton Albion turned toxic and poisonous as Sunderland laboured to a 2-1 home defeat last time out.

Play-off hopefuls Blackpool, managed by former Sunderland boss Simon Grayson, are the visitors this weekend.

Sunderland need to win and convincingly so as there is another 12-day break following Saturday and the visit of Bolton Wanderers on Boxing Day.

Another home defeat doesn’t bear thinking about.

The worst Sunderland starting line-up ever? That should sting the current crop.

And a big improvement is needed from top to bottom over the coming weeks - from the owner, the manager down to the players themselves.

Every week Sunderland fans hope this is rock bottom, that the only way is up. The growing fear is that the worst is yet to come.