Stephen Elliott: Key decisions Phil Parkinson got wrong in final game to cap arguably the worst five weeks in club's history

It says a lot about where we are as a club that this was a game that I was more hoping Sunderland would win, rather than actually expecting us to.

Since Sunderland have been at this level, our record against Joey Barton’s men has not been great.

I should have higher expectations than this, of course, but such is the life, this is where Sunderland AFC finds itself now.

And being honest, smack bang in the middle of the third tier is no fun.

On to the team selection, and with the injured Lynden Gooch missing for a few weeks, Phil Parkinson decided to go with a front pairing of Danny Graham and Charlie Wyke. It seems clear Wyke has been his number one choice.

The performance itself, well it wasn’t a terrible one, but it wasn’t exactly a memorable one either.

For the best part of the game there was not much between the two teams, but Fleetwood are certainly becoming a tough nut crack for this Sunderland team.

Wyke, give him his dues, has been consistent in finding the net, punished the onrushing Jayson Leutwiler with an opportunist finish, heading the ball over him to give Sunderland the lead.

It was a bit route one after a long clearance from Tom Flanagan, but it was a gift that Sunderland and Wyke gladly accepted from the Fleetwood goalkeeper.

Fleetwood equalised with about 15 minutes left and from that point there seemed like there was only one team, and manager, who actually wanted to win the game.

It was interesting that Joey Barton utilised all five available subs, while Phil Parkinson watched on and decided against doing something similar.

He appeared, again, to be seemingly void of any ideas and tactics that would help his team to win the game in the latter stages.

The Fleetwood changes had a desired effect on the pitch as their approach of using fresh legs to try and take all three points got them on the front foot. In the meantime Sunderland looked as though they were happy to settle for a point.

Adding to this, it must be very disheartening for the likes of Elliot Embleton and Jack Diamond sitting watching all of this from the sidelines.

Saturday was a game where Sunderland were again crying out for a bit of energy and pace and, once again, Phil Parkinson largely decided to ignore his bench, aside from bringing on Grigg for a tired looking Danny Graham.

In my opinion, both Embleton and Diamond have shown enough in their brief cameos this season to suggest that they could come on and effect a game, but for some reason Parkinson seemed so reluctant to trust them.

It was another game with no tactical changes and when Max Power and Callum MacFadzean finally came off the bench in the 88th minute, it appeared to be to run down a couple of minutes on the clock oppose to actually affect the game.

Some may say it’s a good point on the road, and it may prove to be, but it certainly didn’t feel that way after the game for me.

With nine points out of the last 21 available in the league and an FA cup exit at the hands of Mansfield Town, it has to be said it is probably the worst five weeks in the club’s proud history.

Factoring all of this in, it was no huge surprise when the news came in yesterday that Phil Parkinson had been relieved from his duties as manager of the club.

A message from the Football Clubs Editor

Our aim is to provide you with the best, most up-to-date and most informative Sunderland AFC coverage 365 days a year.

This depth of SAFC coverage costs, so to help us maintain the high-quality reporting that you are used to, please consider taking out a subscription to our new sports-only package here.

Your support is much appreciated. Richard Mennear, Football Clubs Editor