Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC verdict: Revealing Stadium of Light frustration on season's worst afternoon so far

It was meant to be the start of a new era but instead, it was Sunderland's worst afternoon of the season so far.

It should be said first up that this was not a game that Sunderland should have lost, and certainly not 3-0. And yet there comes a certain point where the pattern is so familiar that you feel as if you can't attribute it to rotten luck for much longer. Sunderland had a good level of control for the vast majority of this game, albeit without threatening too much in the first half. They responded well to falling behind and played with real intensity, but they failed to take their chances and again they were picked off at the other end.

Of Sunderland's ten defeats in the Championship so far this season, this was remarkably the eighth time they have registered a better expected-goals number than their opponent. Sunderland have changed their head coach in the hope of building a 'high performance culture' in the long term but it was never going to fix their biggest problem in the short term: a consistent lack of presence and threat in the opposition penalty box.

The Black Cats have now had three head coaches this season and all have shared the view that the strikers recruited in the summer are not yet ready to impact Championship football. Mason Burstow and Nazariy Rusyn, the two most experienced members of that quartet, have not kicked a ball in anger since Tony Mowbray's departure. Sunderland have a clear vision for how they want the club to be run and led at the Academy of Light but if they do not have a strong January window to reshuffle the pack then the shortcomings of that summer recruitment will be the main reason why this campaign does not end with another play-off finish.

Michael Beale's options had been impacted by the loss of Alex Pritchard to illness in the build up to this game but Sunderland's shortcomings were reflected in Abdoullah Ba's struggles up front. The youngster has shown flashes of real talent in his time at the club so far and actually found a level of relative consistency on the right wing in the early stages of this season, but has been moved back into an unfamiliar role that does neither him nor his team any favours. With Jobe Bellingham back in midfield despite causing West Brom so many problems up front only a fortnight ago, it felt symptomatic of a team that has a good structure from box to box but has become muddled where it really counts.

The anger that spilled out after Callum O'Hare and Kasey Palmer's second-half strikes felt like a natural end point to the frustration that has swept through Sunderland's fanbase since that superb win over Leeds United barely two weeks ago, this result merely the tip of the iceberg. Kyril Louis-Dreyfus was in the director's box to see first hand just how disillusioned many supporters feel with the decision to replace Tony Mowbray with Beale, and also with the upcoming arrangements for the visit of Newcastle United. Two banners were unfurled before kick off criticising both the club's decision to move home supporters for the game, and the hospitality offering for some away fans that will be lucrative for Sunderland. '£500+ vat, the price of loyalty?' read the banner in the North Stand. Though the club released a statement explaining their decision to move supporters earlier this week, the club's main supporter group have criticised the lack of dialogue throughout the process.

The ill feeling was heightened as Sunderland slid as the team headed towards defeat, with some supporters chanting for Tony Mowbray and applauding when his name was sung in the Coventry City end. Many clearly wished to send a message to the club's ownership that they feel their decision making over the last fortnight has been out of touch with the prevailing mood. The anger and frustration that has been both visible and audible over the last week has been the most significant since those defeats to Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham nearly two years ago. The stakes heading into a busy festive period of fixtures have risen significantly as a result, and a Hull City side riding high in the table and on home turf represent every bit as challenging an opponent on Boxing Day as Coventry City did here.

Beale candidly admitted afterwards that his first game at the helm couldn't have gone any worse, the defeat overshadowed by a devastating injury to Niall Huggins that Sunderland fear will lead to another long spell for the young full back who had done so well this season to overcome his previous injury issues.

The head coach will feel that his side are far better than this result showed, and take some comfort that they were able to control possession and at times play their way through a strong Coventry City who most expect to end the campaign either in the play-off positions or very close to them. Sunderland have not become a bad team overnight, far from it, and Beale was right to point out that they still remain relatively well placed in the table with everything to play for. One week was never going to be enough time for Beale to put his stamp on the team, in either penalty box - and he will know that the mood will change quickly with a strong run of results. This was a sobering afternoon all the same, one that showed some significant cracks have appeared in the relationship between supporters and club hierarchy.