Sunderland fan blog: Lee Johnson has big decisions to make ahead of Swindon Town clash

The original plan, back in 2018, was for Stewart Donald to come in and immediately turn the club's form around and gain an instant promotion back into the Championship.

Almost three years later and we are still waiting for the latter of those things to occur.

Yes, the club's form may have turned around within that period - fans are witnessing more wins than they were during the latter days of Ellis Short, but those wins haven't warranted the ultimate achievement of promotion.

A third manager is trying to see if his methods are working and points put on the board. Lee Johnson has came into Sunderland and turned around their form for the better.

Momentum is starting to build.

In Saturday's 2-2 draw with Crewe, Sunderland had to throw caution to the wind after falling behind, but in that match, they showed their fighting characteristics, even if it did take four substitutions from Johnson to encourage that change.

In truth, it was a period of managerial ruthlessness; the performance on the pitch wasn't warranting anything, so something needed to be done.

If the decision to make four changes was ruthless from Johnson, the benefit was something mesmerising.

The two goals seemed to come from nothing - both Chris Maguire and Jordan Jones have been players that haven't played much football under Johnson, but they showed him just what they are capable of.

The second half performance has definitely given Johnson food for thought ahead of Tuesday, but as the new head coach reiterated in his post-match interviews, the performance will need to be a whole lot better.

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 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