Inside one of Sunderland's very worst afternoons - and where they must now go from here

Two starting XIs that shared eight players. This, as we already had some sense of, is a team that tends to operate on the edges of two extremes.

When they are good they truly are a side worth watching, the kind of vibrant, progressive footballing team who you feel could take a scalp or two in the division above.

When they are not, they look rudderless, lacking leadership and resilience.

The truth always lies somewhere in between and, in fairness, a record of 1.86 points-per-game would suggest it is closer to the former than the latter.

The problem is that will not be enough to get Sunderland out of League One and in any season at this level, never mind the fourth, that can only ever be the objective.

Rotherham United and Wigan Athletic are setting the pace that the Black Cats need to reach and right now they are falling short. And how short they fell here, staggeringly so.

Strip away the context and this implosion would go down as the club’s worst ever result.

Even if you add the context, the decade of mismanagement, the nadir of the previous ownership and the shell of its potential the club had become before these beginnings of a rebuild, it looks little better.

Afterwards Lee Johnson said it was the worst he had felt over 20 years in the professional game.

Football teams have off days, no doubt and no drama. Days where nothing sticks, every pass seems just a little overhit, every second ball just a millisecond out of reach.

The issue for Sunderland was that this was their fourth on the road this season.

It speaks to a side that for all the positive play this season has a soft underbelly, that too often and too easily wilts under duress.

The statistics speak for themselves; away from home Sunderland have taken a modest 20 points from 15 games. They have conceded four+ goals on four occasions, and have the second-worst defensive record in the division (clearly, the first leads to the latter here).

Even in two games where they have had the advantage of a goal lead and the opposition seeing a man sent off, they have conspired to lose four points.

They are numbers that point to structural issues Sunderland have found themselves unable to correct.

Johnson appeared genuinely stunned afterwards, saying that it had been a week of positive preparation and as such, a performance he did not see coming.

He knew, and accepted, that this reflected badly on his work as a result.

In the aftermath there was consternation that he had moved away from the back three that had delivered a crucial win against Portsmouth, and it is a fair point to raise.

Danny Batth will improve this side even if his day here ended in a poor own goal, but his arrival is clear no silver bullet.

Not for the first time, Sunderland’s back four were too easily exposed by an imposing strike duo, in this case Oladapo Afolayan and Dion Charles. Both were superb, and perhaps it is worth noting that strong January recruitment and the return of some key players from injury mean this is a Bolton Wanderers side that will probably end the campaign closer to the top six than the bottom.

No excuse for this level of performance, though, and in the end the formation was ultimately a footnote in the story of an afternoon where not one player hit anything close to their best level.

Time and time again Sunderland’s problems were caused by players taking too long on the ball, inviting the press and leaving the defence exposed.

The home side, so often dominant in possession on their home turf, sat off and waited for their opponent to make the error. Time and time again, they obliged.

The first half performance was bad enough but even more damning was the lack of meaningful reaction.

Sunderland started poorly and faded even further; the final quarter simply farcical.

Whatever the root cause, there are none that reflect well on either the team or its leadership.

Some level of inconsistency in individual performance was to be expected this season, undoubtedly. There are regulars in this side playing their first full season of senior football. That they can look a cut above one week and exposed the next is probably a reflection less on them as players and more on where they are at in their careers.

The policy of blooding these players in the heat of a promotion battle is ultimately that of the club’s board, with the Sporting Director and Head Coach taking their cue from there.

At times, it is brilliant and this is the curious thing about this group: even in the wreckage of this woeful afternoon they are not far off, and it would be of little surprise if they were to deliver a slick, convincing display against Doncaster next Saturday.

Even when this game was drifting, when the scale of the defeat left you utterly numb, there were a couple of eye-catching moments. Jack Clarke bursting through on goal, Patrick Roberts dancing through the middle of the pitch.

It is little coincidence that this poor run has coincided with Alex Pritchard’s fitness issues and now that he is back, there is little doubt that this side will go on to produce uplifting afternoons, performances to savour.

There is clearly a balance that needs to be found and so attention must turn to the final two days of the January transfer window.

That a striker is needed to take some of the load off Stewart while Nathan Broadhead recovers from his hamstring injury is accepted by all, but the incoming business cannot end there.

There has been some misfortune with injury along the way but the deficiencies at full back that were celar in the summer transfer window are currently still present. Trai Hume will hopefully have a long and bright future at the club but if he is not ready at this moment then more depth is needed.

In central midfield, too, Sunderland look light right now.

Johnson said on Friday that there was a case to be made in strengthening both of those positions. On the evidence of this game it looks indisputable.

It is entirely understandable that Sunderland want to avoid building a squad of a size with which it is impossible to maintain unity when all are fit, but equally imperative is ensuring their top-two hopes retain a pulse when the cavalry do return.

After Sunderland fell to a 3-0 defeat against Sheffield Wednesday in November, the first real dip of their campaign, Johnson made a candid admission.

You can change the players, the tactics, or the manager.

This is now Sunderland’s second real slump (one win in five) and that there needs to be some additions to the squad is clear.

The consistency of Sunderland’s away struggles means that there clearly needs some soul- searching on the second point if supporters are to be convinced that promotion can still be won under the leadership of the third.

In his apology to supporters afterwards, Johnson conceded that his side had fallen ‘unbelievably short’ of matching the outstanding, 5,000-strong travelling support.

He needs to find the answers to these implosions quickly because they have now recurred far too often, but any head coach needs help.

A poor pitch at home, weaknesses in key areas of the squad, all have played their part in the recent dip.

Sunderland still have a long way to go and this was another brutal reminder. Please, God, don’t make those supporters endure another.

Above and beyond the nature of this implosion, two critical things are true.

One, if this indifferent run extends any longer, Sunderland’s top-two hopes are over. Two, if they have a third dip like this, their top-two hopes are over.

That should focus minds behind the scenes.

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