Is ‘a change gonna come’ for Black Cats?

If it accepted that football is a results business then you would expect David Moyes to be unemployed shortly. That is the harsh reality of the sport and what it has become.

Sunderland have taken two points from 9 games and are now out of the EFL Cup at the hands of Southampton’s reserves. By anyone’s measure this is simply not good enough.

Therefore if history has taught us anything and in the words of Sam Cooke, ‘a change is gonna come’.

The Scot may point to unlucky moments during several games this season where the Black Cats came away with nothing. But there are too few positives even for long suffering Sunderland supporters to latch onto.

Results have become predictable, the team lacks identity and there is little evidence on the pitch to suggest this is changing any time soon. Therein lies the rub. Given the dire situation, for the home crowd at least, enthusiasm to attend matches at the Stadium of Light must now be waning too. Year after year supporters have been subjected to some abject football and patience is now running out.

Sunderland’s reputation built up in recent times is one of zero stability and disarray. This is all familiar territory for Ellis Short. The American owner finds himself needing to consider the position of managers annually and so it is again. Perhaps this situation is the only thing saving Moyes from dismissal as any sacking now would surely place the club under further scrutiny at a time when it really needs some positive headlines.

To be on the search for a ninth manager since Roy Keane’s departure in 2008 would be an embarrassment, especially since Short expressed such confidence in his most recent appointment. However, another change would be less humiliating than witnessing the displays currently on offer week in and week out. It has to be now questioned whether Moyes’ position is tenable.

At some point Sunderland need to remain firmly behind the man in charge. There must surely be agreement on this. However, it has to be someone who is the right and proper fit. With Moyes, on paper at least, you expected his tenure to be a smooth transition from the departing Sam Allardyce. The reality is very different. There is simply no evidence to point to which would indicate any positivity.

The timing of Moyes’ arrival during the last few weeks of the Summer transfer deadline will not have helped his cause; injuries to key players have been many and often and all managers need time to impose their identity onto the squad.

Unfortunately, for David Moyes, excuses only get you so far in football and given November is nearly upon us attempts at justification now are simply a coda to this latest disaster.

Perhaps for the Scot, the axe will fall following the Arsenal game on Saturday.