Wise Men Say: This isn't good enough and all Benji Kimpioka's goal did was paper over the cracks at Sunderland

The 19-year-old’s first senior goal should have been a moment to savour and, while it did rescue a point, it merely served to paper over the cracks. Kimpioka should undoubtedly be proud, but Sunderland’s 1-1 draw at home to Coventry City at the weekend was far more notable for the negatives than the positives.

To put it as simply as I possibly can: this isn’t good enough.

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Very little that has been served up on the pitch for the past 10 months has met the barrier for what should be acceptable on Wearside, but events of the last two months have been beyond the pale.

Much of the blame is falling on the shoulders of Phil Parkinson and, while it is foolish to pin it all on the manager, it is only fair to point out that improvements since he arrived have been almost non-existent.

A thumping win against Tranmere Rovers aside, it’s been awful.

But the problems run far deeper. The club’s recruitment has been shambolic, mirroring the failures of owners past.

The narrative now dispensed from those in charge is to hold on tight, keep the faith until January and we’ll sort it out then. But why? Why hasn’t it been sorted before now?

Charlie Methven recently told fans the club had agreed to back the manager in January even before new money poured into the coffers from FPP, so why wasn’t this all sorted last summer? Why delay? And how are we suddenly going to fix everything when we’ve proven so hopelessly bad at it in the recent past? What’s changed?

None of this is good enough and none of it is befitting a club of Sunderland’s stature.

To hear Stewart Donald suggest, as he did a few weeks ago, the club’s start to the season hasn’t been that bad was galling. So too is the continued decline on the pitch.

November has been horrific. Sunderland must end it with a victory against Burton Albion. If they don’t, it is a struggle to see this getting better any time soon.