How the feel-good factor at Sunderland unravelled and how it can be fixed after miserable end to season

It has been a testing 2024 so far, for followers of Sunderland.

Though there had been some significant bumps in the road since the change of ownership in 2021, the general trajectory on the pitch was encouraging. There was stinging criticism of the initial failure to disclose the nature of the club’s shareholding, the challenging search for Lee Johnson’s successor and some transfer market frustration but to offset that was the brilliant win over Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley, the surge to a second play-off campaign under Tony Mowbray and the general progress of the club’s talented youngsters. 

To say that progress has been derailed over the last six months or so would be an understatement. Sunderland ended the last campaign in 16th amid a long malaise and quite remarkably, over 120 days have passed without a permanent head coach. The feel-good factor that had steadily been built has all but evaporated. So what’s gone so badly wrong and what can be done to fix it? We take a closer look at the decisions that have defined the change in mood...

TONY MOWBRAY SPECULATION 

Some at Sunderland felt that the seeds of this season’s disappointment were sown even as the previous campaign ended more promisingly than anyone had dared to hope. The Black Cats rode a wave of optimism to finish in sixth, playing a fearless brand of football that captured the eye of neutrals just as much as the club’s support. Yet even as Mowbray triggered an automatic year-long extension to his contract as a result of that success, names of potential successors were rife on social media. Some of those reports were quickly quashed, but not all and that Mowbray’s position was precarious was clear. 

The head coach himself was clearly upset by the leaks, openly questioning his future in the immediate aftermath of the second leg at Luton. It was the worst possible start to a summer in which Sunderland were already facing the significant challenges of replacing Amad and potentially Ross Stewart - two players who they would have not reached the top six without (even though he missed large swathes of the campaign through injury, Stewart’s goal return when fit was crucial in that eventual points haul that dragged Sunderland to the play-offs).

The dazzling second-half display at Preston North End on the final day of the regular season and the first leg win over Luton that followed proved to be a peak that Sunderland have not been able to recapture. Though Mowbray eventually stayed it was not with any significant public backing, and the uneasy truce never seemed likely to last for long. The impact of that spring period could be felt as Mowbray left months later, his public comments laying bare the extent to which relationships had broken down behind the scenes. 

The major concern for fans right now is that the ongoing search for a new head coach risks leaving the club even further behind this summer than they were last time out. Though the club has a structure that means many decisions are out of the head coach’s control (particularly on recruitment), the uncertainty is clearly far from ideal. This time last year, Sunderland had already signed Jobe Bellingham, Nectar Triantis and Luis Hemir. The addition of Jenson Seelt was days away, and Dennis Cirkin had already agreed a new long-term deal. 

TONY MOWBRAY’S EVENTUAL DEPARTURE

Despite those uncertain beginnings, Sunderland were in a relatively decent place in the weeks before Mowbray’s departure. There were significant issues, undoubtedly. Sunderland’s struggles in the final third were becoming increasingly acute and that was one of the reasons why some supporters felt the time for change had arrived, particularly given Mowbray’s increasingly public frustration with that matter.

But Sunderland were still a good Championship side by just about any other measure, regularly dominating games and picking up enough points to stay in the play-off picture. Whatever your view on the decision to part ways with Mowbray, what is now beyond doubt is that the timing proved to be a huge error. Sunderland lost their best and most popular public communicator ahead of what would be a difficult few months, and by doing so mid-season they significantly narrowed the pool of contenders to replace him. Many of the club’s targets were either unattainable in the middle of the campaign, or unwilling to leave their posts at that time. It was a huge strategic mistake that cast doubt over the club’s claims to be an evidence-led operation. Retrospectively, it felt impulsive and ill-judged. Mowbray’s work, both with the players and in leading the club more generally, was vastly underrated by the club hierarchy and that would become apparent as performances and results began to decline ever-more rapidly. 

The questions the process raised over the club’s succession planning are even more acute now, and very much yet to be answered.

MICHAEL BEALE’S APPOINTMENT 

Mowbray’s departure was justified by the club’s hierarchy as crucial for building a ‘high-performance culture’ behind the scenes at Sunderland, the belief being that this was a side that still had potential to be unlocked.

What transpired under Beale made the recruitment process they conducted difficult to fathom. Beale had a reputation as being a talented coach but he found communication a challenge and though Mowbray’s press conferences had clearly been a source of some consternation, his successor ended up creating far more headlines. Most damningly and confusingly, Sunderland began to play with a far more reserved style. It’s imperative that the next head coach restores not just the bravery with which Mowbray’s team played, but also the rapport he helped foster between the terraces and the pitch. 

BLACK CATS BAR FIASCO 

The impact the sight of a Sunderland bar being decked out in Newcastle United colours and slogans had on morale cannot be underestimated, but the events around that derby game were really the tip of an iceberg. Fans had long been frustrated with the club’s off-field offering and customer service, and the arrangements around that game brought those frustrations to the fore.

The ownership group had admittedly inherited a significantly under-resourced operation as a result of the club’s relegation to League One and the impact of COVID-19, but progress in rectifying that had been slow. Louis-Dreyfus apologised on social media and in a meeting of the supporter collective for the events surrounding the Black Cats Bar, but that did little to appease fans.

New retail deals with hummel and Fanatics have raised hopes that positive change is on the way off the pitch, but there’s evidently still a huge amount of work to be done. 

JANUARY WINDOW 

Sunderland’s summer recruits for the most struggled to force their way into the starting XI on a regular basis, with Jobe Bellingham one of the few to quickly establish themselves. This was in part expected, with the club investing in a lot of players who would need time to adjust to a new division, a new country and a new language. 

By January, though, there were major weaknesses in the squad that needed addressing. Reinforcements up front were clearly required if Sunderland were to revive their play-off hopes, while it was another window to add the depth in central midfield that had been lacking ever since Corry Evans had suffered an ACL injury a year previous. While Romaine Mundle could in time prove to be a strong addition, Sunderland again failed to significantly improve the options available to the head coach in the short term. The last two transfer windows have yielded few players who at this stage have improved the team consistently, and that is a key part of the frustration that has built on Wearside. Will this summer window finally see a little more flexibility, a touch of pragmatism to give a young squad the balance it needs to compete?

WILL STILL SAGA 

Sunderland’s decision to hand Mike Dodds the interim role until the end of the campaign was undoubtedly in part because of their belief in his coaching abilities and the quality of the playing squad. In that, the mistake made when parting company with Mowbray was repeated and the shortcomings in the squad were exposed in a wretched end to the season.

Primarily, though, not appointing an immediate successor to Beale was because the club believed it would mean a wider and stronger pool of candidates would be available in the summer. While that did prove to be the case, landing one of those candidates has so far proved to be a different challenge altogether. 

The long months at the end of the campaign in which the Black Cats struggled not just to win but produce any coherent attacking football understandably saw apathy become widespread amongst fans, the only cause for optimism being that it would allow the club to start the summer strongly. Regardless of where the fault lies in Still’s decision to ultimately join RC Lens, it has further diminished trust in the club’s processes and succession planning. The time to put that right with an ambitious appointment is fast dwindling.