Sunderland AFC news: Pundit says Stewart Donald made Sunderland fans 'look foolish' over finances as Portsmouth outline transfer plans

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The Black Cats suffered a third straight loss against Blackpool on last weekend to all but end the Black Cats’ automatic promotion hopes.

Lee Johnson’s men have not won since Good Friday when they defeated 10-man Oxford United at the Stadium of Light.

Here, though, we take you through all of the latest news and talk from around the division ahead of tonight’s game:

Football finance expert delivers Stewart Donald verdict

Football finance expert Kieran Maguire has talked about Stewart Donald’s time at Sunderland – and where it all went wrong for the former chairman.

After a solid start to life owning Sunderland, Donald quickly fell foul of fans due to question marks surrounding the club’s finances before Kyril Lous-Dreyfus’ takeover earlier this season.

“In the 2019 accounts, there was a strange bit of disclosure, where it appeared as if this company Madrox owed Sunderland £20m, and Sunderland said ‘don’t worry about that lads we’ll write it off’.

“So that’s what I think piqued the ire of many Sunderland fans, along with the fact that Stewart Donald became a bit of a laughingstock and therefore, you felt by association as a Sunderland fan, this wasn’t reflecting well on the club.

“They don’t like to be made to look foolish, and I think that Stewart Donald has made them look foolish.

“I think when he bought the club, his intentions were probably good. Although I suspect his intentions were to try to make some money out of the club from running it for a couple of years and selling it on [for] profit.”

Danny Cowley opens up on Portsmouth’s transfer plans

Sunderland’s potential promotion rivals in League One have opened up regarding their transfer plans.

Indeed, just like the Black Cats, Portsmouth have started to draw up plans for this summer’s transfer window despite not knowing if they will be in League One or the Championship next campaign.

Pompey currently sit seventh in the League One table and only out of the play-off places on goal difference.

Sunderland are currently third and are six points ahead of their rivals Portsmouth.

Indeed, the pair could potentially face each other in the play-offs once again.

“I think we have been working hard to put a plan together,” Pompey manager Danny Cowley said.

“We have got a clear game model, a clear understanding of what we want the players to do in each of the positions and we are just trying to find the best players available to us. My job is to tell the board what is good value, it is their job to tell me what is affordable.

“We have a plan for this division and we have a plan if we were to get into the next division. We are in the early stages of those plans as we are only a short while into the job but that is what we are trying to put in place as we go on.”

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