The current situation at Sunderland is certainly less than ideal. The Black Cats have failed to win a Premier League match this season and occupy the bottom of the table with two points from ten games.
A 4-1 loss to Arsenal last week condemned Sunderland to the record books in the process for all the wrong reasons.
Sunderland now holds the record for making the worst start to a league campaign from the opening ten games – a record previously held by Manchester City in the 1995-6 season. The early performances have some pundits already questioning if David Moyes is the right man to lead Sunderland out of trouble.
It certainly has to be acknowledged the Sunderland squad is a weak one that many experts would concede is a side that would be battling relegation regardless of whether David Moyes was in charge. Flirting with relegation is nothing new for the Wearside club with Premier League finishes of 17th, 14th, 16th and 17th in the last four seasons.
There is still an expectation however that the manager will instil a certain level of performance that gives the team a fighting chance of competing and remaining in the top flight. This currently appears non-existent at Sunderland.
With upcoming fixtures against Bournemouth and Hull it is paramount some points begin to be picked up or the natives will be demanding immediate change. Owner Ellis Short is also believed to be running out of patience with current results.
David Moyes must be secretly thinking where did it all go wrong? At Everton the Scot generally had the Toffees hovering around European qualification. Those that question whether David Moyes can turn things around he will point to his record at the Toffees where he had Everton playing as a competitive unit that consistently finished in the top half of the table with limited resources.
Many felt the Sunderland job would present similar challenges and Moyes was well equipped to handle them.
The more recent history is what the naysayers will point to as evidence that David Moyes maybe out of his depth. Moyes has been sacked from his last two managerial posts at Manchester United and Real Sociedad.
Whoever took over from Sir Alex Ferguson was going to have a difficult time. Moyes initially signed a long-term contract but was sacked after only ten months in charge, the third shortest managerial stint in Manchester United’s history. It was always a risky appointment, Manchester United with a long tradition of success and winning trophies. David Moyes had not won a single trophy during his Everton tenure.
The Moyes reign at United saw some unwanted history created. West Brom, Newcastle and Everton picked up their first wins at Old Trafford in over 20 years. Stoke also enjoyed their first victory over United in 30 years.
The move to Spain and Real Sociedad was the chance for Moyes to rebuild his reputation. Unfortunately a year after taking the role he was sacked. A winning percentage of 28.57 per cent from 42 games was the lowest of his managerial career to date.
The move to Sunderland was another chance for David Moyes to start rebuilding his brand that has taken a massive hit. Recent history suggests that Sunderland managers have not enjoyed long tenures in charge.
Before Sam Allardyce left to take the England national role Sunderland have had a revolving door in the last five years with Martin O’Neil, Pablo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat all having stints in charge. Peter Reid between 1995-2002 was the last time a Sunderland manager was in charge for more than three seasons.
David Moyes is believed to be unhappy with the squad he inherited and a lack of recruitment is believed to be a major issue. Most would agree with him but in a results-driven business, zero wins from ten is damning regardless.
Will David Moyes be given time to turn things around at the Stadium of Light or is he looking down the barrel of being sacked from his third consecutive club?
Liam Sheedy
Roar Guru
I have no idea how Sunderland managed to win that game Saturday night but a win is a win! Massive game against Hull.
Joe
Guest
Moyes is gone. Championship team the next stop
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
He put in a transfer request just as the season got under way, then changed his mind (presumably no big money offers came in), and has played like his heart isn't really in it. Apparently West Ham were/are keen on signing him, and the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if he's got a deal sorted already and is playing badly to drive down the transfer fee. Maybe he's just not happy there anymore, and it's affected his playing.
Sam
Guest
Given you obviously watch Sunderland closely, what is going on with Kone? He looked absolutely immense at the end of last season and now looks completely out of sorts!
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
As a Sunderland supporter I haven't been content to stay up every season. I'd much rather take mid-table mediocrity over this shambles. We've become this decade's answer to Coventry City.
Doug Graves
Guest
The problem for Sunderland is that they've been content just to stay up every season. They have no ambition, they don't even appear to want to compete beyond getting to the magical 40 point safety barrier. Eventually that attitude catches up with you (ask Aston Villa, Newcastle, Fulham, Bolton etc who have recently attempted to do just that and have failed) because other hungrier teams are promoted to the EPL and they realise they only have to do a little bit more than you. So perhaps in a strange way, getting relegated is exactly what Sunderland need. They can jettison most of their hopeless squad, use the parachute payments to rebuild the team and give Moyes or whoever time to rebuild the club into one that deserves to be in the EPL instead of one that just takes up space and soaks up EPL money.
HardcorePrawn
Roar Guru
Dark days in Sunderland. I can't see Moyes surviving, but he may get to keep the job as I can't think of any manager that would want to work there. The past few years have been the same: the new man comes in, keeps the club up, gets promised funds for new players, the funds don't appear, the team that just avoided relegation is not good enough to improve on the previous season, the results are terrible, the manager takes the hit and gets the sack, the new man comes in... This season has been a bit different with Sam Allardyce getting the England job. The protracted negotiations with the FA meant that the club couldn't sign players (who'd want to sign when the manager was about to do one?), and Moyes only had a few weeks in the role before the season started. Maybe he needs time, maybe he needs a better squad, maybe the club needs to be relegated so as to start afresh? We've been down there before and the fans still turned up. For most of my life the club have been a second tier side, it'd be upsetting for us to go down, but we'll all get over it. At least we're now a rubbish Premier League team (for now), rather than a rubbish [old] Division 2 team. As for Moyes, I'd say stick with him. He has proven himself at this level with Everton, and his Man Utd squad were a team in decline that Mourinho is now struggling to get decent results with. And with no likely replacements we'll probably slide back into the days when the likes of Mick Buxton, Ricky Sbragia, Malcolm Crosby, or (God help us) Howard Wilkinson were the only viable applicants for the job.
Fadida
Guest
Spot on Pete. He not an old man in manager terms, but he is outdated
Pete
Guest
While people say Moyes did a good job at Everton I think he was just about done there. Everton had become stale and I think their fans were keen for a management change. Magbe his tactics are a little outdated?
jamesb
Guest
Can't see Sunderland or Moyes surviving. A real Pitt for Sunderland, because as a club, they have underachieved for a long long time. As for Moyes, his coaching career could be over.
j binnie
Guest
Liam - Your opening phrase to this article says it all."The current situation at Sunderland is less than ideal" The key word of course is "current" for the same situation has existed at Sunderland for ,to the best of my knowledge, around 65 years,since they embarked upon their infamous "buying spree " in 1950 that saw them dubbed the "millionaire club" of English football. Since those days the manager's seat at Sunderland AFC has become the "poisoned chalice" of English football, for in 60 years they have had 38 different managers ,have been relegated to both 2nd and 3rd divisions,with the winning of promotion from those leagues on 6 occasions and an FA Cup win back in 1972/73 as the only "prizes" the long suffering fans have had to celebrate. All this "history" at one of the best supported clubs in England since their "birth " in 1879 (137 years). To get back to your question, "Is David Moyes the man to change the status quo???" In view of what has gone on before it is highly doubtful and to be honest it is a reflection of today's football on how managers are held up as "heroes/magicians" on one day and are cast into the "unemployment pit" the next (usually with large payout figures). If we cross the country to the "shrine" of English football we find growing evidence of the same type of problem,United into their 4th manager in 5 years,millions of dollars spent, and still no apparent improvement re. league position. Strange world is it not. !!! Cheers jb