Where blame lies as dismal run continues and ongoing selection issues: Phil Smith's Sunderland AFC conclusions

Sunderland’s alarming Championship slide continued with another defeat to Southampton on Saturday afternoon.

Here Phil Smith draws his key conclusions from the game, and assesses where the key issues lie as a season that once offered promise falls away…

SELECTION BACKFIRES - BUT ISSUES RUN FAR BEYOND THE DUGOUT

Sunderland’s sixth defeat in a row, the fourth under interim head coach Mike Dodds, left many fans unsurprisingly pondering whether more experience may be needed in the dugout as well as on the pitch in order to stave off a nervous end to the season. 

Dodds admitted in his post-match press conference that the current run of form is not acceptable but also added that he had not had much of a fair hand since taking charge, a combination of injuries to key players and a daunting fixture list undoubtedly key factors in Sunderland’s slide. An injury to Dan Ballard, which came just as the Black Cats were fighting their way into the game, rather summed up how things have gone for Dodds and it was no great surprise to see a strong Southampton side capitalise ruthlessly on the uncertainty in a reshuffled defence. 

Two things are true about Sunderland right now: The number of established players missing would test any Championship side and they are also consistently giving their opposition a head start by starting games poorly. Dodds set his team up aggressively here, determined to press and get on the front foot - their early efforts undone by some wretched set piece defending. His key selection calls, it is also fair to say, did not work. Mason Burstow was handed a chance to impress having had limited game time in recent months, while Adil Aouchiche was also surprisingly left out despite impressing from the bench against Leicester City. Dodds reasoned afterwards that this was because he wanted to go with Chris Rigg in that position after his superb display against the Foxes, his decision to go with Burstow essentially meaning there was room only for one. Aouchiche’s introduction in the second half almost immediately injected some energy and creativity into Sunderland’s performance, again leaving a sense of what might have been. 

Dodds feels that the return of some key players and a slightly more generous run of fixtures will see Sunderland’s form even itself out at least to an extent, and that will almost certainly be the view of those above him as it stands. The sobering reality for Sunderland is that another change will not address their ongoing issues in the opposition penalty box, a theme that has now continued through three head coaches. At this moment Sunderland’s current options are not ready to impact Championship games on a consistent basis and while Nazariy Rusyn probably looks the furthest forward, his most promising contributions have generally been from the bench and from wider positions. The constant rotation in hope of a solution has become tough to watch and underlines why Tony Mowbray often felt it was best to go without one from the start. That must be on Dodds’ radar ahead of QPR’s visit, particularly with Aouchiche’s promise giving him the option to return Jobe to the role he has often impressed in this season. Coming just before an international break, that game is of huge importance for both Dodds and Sunderland as concern and disquiet understandably grows.

OWNERSHIP MUST TAKE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR RAPID DECLINE 

Sunderland did at least to an extent have an unenviable task in building on last season’s exciting campaign, particularly in the absence of Amad - a player who had done so much to make all of that possible. All the same, it’s quite remarkable to witness the decline of the side who swept Southampton aside in early September.

A long Championship campaign means fluctuations in form and mood are inevitable, as too was Southampton’s improvement as their squad depth began to tell and their familiarity with a new head coach and playing style grew. It’s still hard to comprehend and accept just how quickly the feelgood factor on Wearside has ebbed away, mainly from decisions of the club’s own hand. The Black Cats bar fiasco which still casts a long shadow over the club and the supporters’ relationship with the club’s ownership, the bungled head coach change which so clearly destabilised a team that was still performing very creditably against its budget by just about any performance metric you can mention, and the now clear failure to address the squad’s obvious shortcomings in the January transfer window. 

The impact of Joe Rothwell from the substitute bench underlined the difference between the two teams and squads and while it also underlined the financial challenge of competing with teams bolstered by Premier League parachute payments, what’s so frustrating is that for the first half of this season Sunderland were doing a very decent job of exactly that. 

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has largely kept his own counsel since taking charge of the club, though he did speak to the supporter collective in the wake of the initial derby fallout. If there is to be any prospect of Sunderland emerging from this bruising period and attacking next season with positivity, then there will need to be dialogue about what has gone wrong and what has been learned from it. 

That of course extends to the sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, given Michael Beale’s brief tenure and the recruitment flaws of the previous two windows. Scrutiny there must go hand-in-hand in recognition of the fact that those decisions are made in line with the club’s strategy, which ultimately stems from the ownership. Sunderland appear since the end of last season to have pushed a more extreme recruitment policy and at the moment, it is not working. The squad depth has been badly exposed in recent weeks and more players ready to hit the ground running are an absolute must this summer.

DAN NEIL DESTINED FOR THE TOP

You can often learn a lot about a player in adversity. While this was far from a flawless performance, Dan Neil was again Sunderland’s standout player in a very poor first half as he looked consistently to play forward and take positive options. Aouchiche’s arrival in the second half saw Sunderland get the rewards of that, with their homegrown midfielder very much on the scene for both goals. 

It’s increasingly clear that his career is destined for the top tier, with or without Sunderland. That the club has assembled a squad packed with exciting talent who give their all for the shirt is beyond doubt, and their willingness to give them opportunities is to be applauded. It just feels as if at the moment, they don’t have the balance quite right between development and what’s needed to push for the top six in the here and now. With a club of this size in this division, that has to be the minimum expectation.