The short and long-term issues FPP Sunderland deal must help address after frustrating start to season

He has at his disposal, he said, good players and players with desire.

George Dobson and Luke O’Nien were namechecked, as was Jordan Willis, a centre-back growing in stature week on week.

He is convinced that these are players with significant potential who will only improve.

It was a particularly apt observation on an afternoon when Denver Hume blossomed and showed that, while far from the finished article, he has much to offer both this season and beyond.

It’s no coincidence.

Jack Ross had recruited deliberately in this manner, eager both to bring down the average age of his squad and find players who could grow with the club and potentially bring in a profit somewhere down the line, breaking Sunderland’s short-term cycle in the market.

He also wanted a more balanced squad in profile, a cohesive group driving in the same direction.

If Elliot Embleton and Ethan Robson can find fitness and rhythm in the months ahead, then the Black Cats will have a core group of players who can toe the difficult line between improving as players and helping to deliver results.

The wider reality of where Sunderland find themselves is of course far more complicated and these positive additions are set against a side seventh in League One, a troubling position but one absolutely reflective of their level of performance.

They do not look like a side set to challenge the top two at the moment and any optimism that they will do so stems mostly from a sense that this division is not as strong as it was last season.

Recruitment in the Ross era, as with so many before, was mixed to put it mildly.

Failings at the heart of defence and in the second half of the campaign, up front, cost the Black Cats promotion last season.

Even if there was a logic to much of the recruitment this summer, it was not a result of joined-up thinking across the club.

Ross sprung into action to hastily assemble a squad after Mark Campbell’s failed takeover, reliant on his and Tony Coton’s contacts and with a 100-point target hanging over his head.

Only months before, he had hailed Barnlsey’s and Luton’s coherent recruitment and ‘model’ for sustained success, relative to their club’s stature.

Sunderland still lacked that despite Ross’ efforts.

The business he did, quite clearly, did not go far enough.

He paid for that with his job and just over a month on, Sunderland are a club still wrestling with these issues.

Football is an unpredictable sport and environment, where good practice is not always rewarded. Success can never be guaranteed, but the likelihood of failure can be significantly reduced in two key areas.

Sustainable and reliable recruitment structures, and a steady production line of young talent.

Only last week, Pep Guardiola credited 80% of his success at Manchester City to recruitment.

City have the immense fortune of being in a position where money is no object, but is also worth pointing out that they have bucked the trend with modern superclubs in staying clear of ready-made superstars.

Aymeric Laporte, Kevin De Bruyne, Leroy Sane, all expensive acquisitions out of the reach of their rivals but crucially, players still malleable enough to grow and be reshaped into Guardiola’s demands and philosophy.

It may seem fanciful and bizarre to even mention these names in the same breath, but given the dominance Sunderland are said to enjoy financially and in terms of facilities at this level, it’s an apt reminder that this does not always equate to success. Joined-up thinking and a well-executed strategy remain just as crucial.

Rival managers have never been shy to point at Sunderland’s budget but then neither have the current hierarchy.

After the departure of Ross, Stewart Donald restated it in his first interview.

Charlie Methven’s comments last week offered a tacit admission that more needs to be done.

He rejected criticism that not enough money had been spent, but acknowledged that it has not produced the desired results.

The onus, then, is to deliver on the promise to use the recent investment from FPP to address these areas that have been stripped back.

The deal was sealed at a moment when frustration amongst supporters is the highest it has been since the change of ownership in the summer of 2018.

Attendances remain remarkable, but the team has not progressed and this stage, promotion feels more of a possibility than a probability.

Everyone knows the potential consequences of a third season in League One, how quickly the fraying bonds from consecutive relegations, stitched back together so quickly in the early days of Donald’s tenure, could be reopened.

The work in building that goodwill can never be overstated but sustaining it in what Methven terms ‘Phase Two’ of their ownership is crucial.

They have made one crucial decision already, replacing Ross with Parkinson. The success of that will be determined in the coming months, with some promising performances and disappointing results in the first weeks since the former Bolton boss took charge.

He has been assured of backing in January, and that increasingly feels as if it will be a key moment in this season.

Even if Ross brought in players last summer who will serve the club well, the squad on the whole does not appear noticeably stronger than last season and it is suffering from the same lack of dynamism in the final third.

The owners will be expected to deliver the adjustments required.

Just as crucial to both Parkinson and the club in the longer term will be the new appointments expected in the wake of FPP’s investment.

Methven said had that discussions about the club’s model and plans have been discussed, and a strategy put in place to carry it out.

The Executive Director rejected the suggestion that a Chief Executive was needed to deliver more permanent, day-to-day leadership on Wearside, fairly pointing out that most top clubs no longer operate with one over-arching figure directing both commercial and footballing strategies.

With Tony Davison’s departure, however, the club is currently short on leadership in both areas.

Even if the eventual deal fell short of what had initially been expected, and it certainly cannot be expected to be immediately transformative, the calibre of the US businessmen involved means that this still feels like a major opportunity to reset and drive forward, to find fresh voices and ideas.

Those structures built in the next year or so will define the current ownership group’s legacy.

Though it seemed strange at the time, there was a reason why Ross was using that word even when the club was shelling out a record fee to land his top striking target last January.

His biggest legacy may well be in drawing attention to these areas and the need to turn energy, enthusiasm and resource into something more tangible.

FPP’s arrival could not be more timely.

It’s a major opportunity that cannot be wasted.

So much of this 18-month journey has been exhilarating and uplifting.

Building on that for the long-term is now imperative.