Were Sunderland right to sack Tony Mowbray? The results and statistics which led to his departure

To outsiders, Tony Mowbray’s sacking by Sunderland may seem harsh. But for anyone who has taken real notice of the Black Cats’ season, the reason for his departure is clear: Their alarming recent slump against some of the weakest teams in the Championship.

And the inevitable consequence of that and potentially another major factor in Mowbray’s sacking is that his successor faces a seriously challenging run of games against many of the division’s better sides.

It is not just that Sunderland have taken only 11 points from their last 10 games that cost Mowbray his job. The facts are clear and - for “Mogga”, inescapable: just ONE of the teams they have faced in those 10 games was in the top half of the Championship.

When Sunderland met Watford - the first of Mowbray’s final 10 matches in charge - they lay fourth in the Championship, with the Hornets down in 21st. Now, despite the Black Cats’ 2-0 victory that day - the gap between the two clubs is a single place on goal difference. Of the clubs Sunderland have played since, only Leicester City were in the top half of the Championship before kick-off. 

Mowbray’s reliance on Jack Clarke - he has contributed to almost 40 per cent of his side's goals this season - has become painfully and very clearly identifiable to Sunderland’s modest opponents in recent weeks. And that reliance saw an old accusation against Mowbray from his time in charge at Blackburn - that he is unable to plan and implement a Plan B when Plan A isn’t wasn’t working - re-emerge.

Of Sunderland’s last five fixtures alone, three of their opponents are in the bottom seven of the table and none are in even the top 12 places in the Championship. And although 27 games still remain and the Championship play-off places remain within reach, that combination of under-achievement against poor opposition and the Black Cats’ much tougher upcoming fixture list dictated that a change had to happen.