Sunderland's big Phil Parkinson decision assessed - and why it must not mask the ownership's wider failings ahead of potential takeover

His point was around the salary cap rules introduced earlier this summer, but his reflections on another night of frustration neatly captured the debate that has surrounded the Black Cats this season.

Parkinson stressed that it was unrealistic to expect Sunderland to regularly go three, four goals up in games, to steamroll teams over and over again.

The fair response was that this was not the expectation.

The expectation from supporters is to win automatic promotion. That is only right, as it is the stated goal from ownership right down to the players themselves.

Thirteen games in, the jury was out.

Sunderland, unquestionably, looked like play-off contenders. Parkinson had proven himself to be an experienced League One campaigner, creating a side that played with structure and defensive resilience for the most part.

But was hard to make the case that they were anything more than that, particularly in the last six weeks where there was a significant drop-off in the underlying data of their performances.

And that, after all, was what Parkinson was brought to the club to do.

He was, the board stated, the proven promotion winner, who could turn the narrow margins that had gone against Jack Ross' side all too often the right way.

Over a year on, the points-per-game ratio was worse, the defeats more regular, the win percentage weaker.

The expectation was not to steamroll teams.

It was to look like a side that would win automatic promotion this. In that context, it was fair to be concerned about the attacking statistics.The numbers that had Sunderland tenth in the division for shots taken, and eighteenth for shots on target.

It was fair to be concerned about the way the Black Cats were unable to respond within games, so often losing their way after the early stages in which they enjoyed relative control.

And if the salary cap has indeed levelled the playing field to an extent in terms of starting XIs across the division, then it is fair to wonder why Sunderland's deep squad and Category One academy was not being used as a genuine point of difference.

Parkinson may well have won promotion this season, or next. The margins, though, were razor thin.

That will be the brief of the next manager.

To make more use of academy products, to improve the side's attacking play, and to push towards the automatic promotion places.

The key, though, is whether the club and the ownership itself is willing to finally think beyond the narrow parameters of winning promotion as the be-all and end-all.

Since Madrox took control of the club two-and-a-half years ago, it has often felt as if returning to the Championship is the only measure of success when in truth, it should only be one step on a bigger journey.

When Ross left the club, a source put it like this. Yes, Sunderland may get lucky with a managerial appointment, and it may take them back to the second tier. With the current structure (or lack of), though, it will be exactly that. A lucky dip.

There is no discernible long-term strategy for success.

We have seen that in the flawed recruitment, and the regular departure of academy products who do not feel there is a pathway for them despite the club being marooned in the third tier.

That academy remains without a manager, as does the recruitment department.

A raft of key players are heading towards the final six months of their contract and there has been little indication of forward planning.

The failure of two managers, then is the failure of Madrox.

This is a football club still lacking a long-term strategy for growth, success and stability. The vision has only weakened in the last two-and-a-half years. Worth reflecting on, when a change of ownership is believed to be imminent.

On that front, there remain some critical unknowns.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is expected to take a substantial shareholding, but it is not yet clear whether he on his own will command a majority.

Stewart Donald is expected to step back even further but the plans of the remaining current owners are still unclear. There is, then, good reason for caution at this stage.

There has been ample time for the Madrox regime to demonstrate their commitment to the long-term health and growth of the club, but we have not seen it.

It is in this context that the next managerial appointment must be viewed.

It's time for Sunderland to look in the mirror and reflect on what it finds.

A lack of a coherent playing style, that makes recruitment inconsistent and makes the pathway to the first team for academy products that much more difficult.

A lack of stability at boardroom level, that weakens forward planning and means that successive managers lose one of their best players due to a failure to find timely agreements on a new contract.

We can say with a degree of certainty what the next Sunderland manager should look like.

There should be a commitment to attacking football, and a real presence at a time when the club feels as if it is stuck at its lowest ebb.

We will learn much about Sunderland AFC and where it goes next in the days and weeks ahead.

Above all else, whether this change of ownership is a genuine fresh start, or a continuation of what has gone before.

Whether there is finally a recognition of why Sunderland are where they are, and how to correct it.

Not just for the next 36 games, but the 100 beyond that, too.

There were sound footballing reasons for this change of direction, but it must be just one part of a wider recognition of the scale and pace of change required.

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