A Failure to Listen is not the Problem

Watching Sunderland has become like looking at a road traffic accident unfold in front of your eyes, you want to turn away but there’s something that draws you in. However, irrespective of the analogy the team looks devoid of ideas, confidence and ability. Therefore it begs the question have the Sunderland players stopped responding to head coach Dick Advocaat? That’s what football pundit Martin Keown believes. The former Arsenal legend made those comments following the Black Cat’s crushing defeat at the hands of Manchester United.

Those last nine games during the 2014/15 Premier League campaign certainly looked like a turning point, a glimmer of hope in a dull grey landscape. What’s changed since then? Arguably things should have only improved. Advocaat had retired from league football in order to spend more time with his family but was enticed back. Surely this return to Wearside demonstrates he still had a drive and a passion to serve the club? In addition there was some investment in the side albeit to a mixed response by the supporters. Advocaat was given a number of players that he was familiar with though, who could fit, or so the theory goes, instantly into his recognised system. Lens and Toivonen were previous Advocaat stalwarts, individuals who he has relied upon in the past.

Those last few games where the dying embers of a poor season seemed to light a fire of promise now looked to have fizzled out to nothing. Where has it gone wrong since then?

I think many have looked at this question and tried to answer from a contemporary viewpoint. To do so is wrong. There isn’t one problem there are many. It’s likely we only know a mere fraction of them too, some will be well hidden behind the scenes.

These concerns, which haven’t just been borne out of recent times, have evolved over a long travelled trajectory. They certainly won’t be put right overnight. Manager after manager, head coach after head coach have tried and failed. Each has had sufficient investment to at least make a dent on challenging for that mid table slot. This in itself has become part of the problem. All have failed resulting in suffering arising from instability, not just from one regime but many.

Each time someone has taken the reigns they’ve been different from the last. Every individual in charge has had their own unique identity, some looked doom to fail from the start and some defied all logic by being unsuccessful (I’m looking at you Martin O’Neill). Each approach has been deemed a failure and the very opposite set of ideals has been given a chance. Would it not have been better to stick with one style of play, one brand if you will? Should a change in coach be required at any point then someone with sufficient similarity to the last could come in and build upon the previous incumbent’s work not rip it up and start again. Does each regime need to be looked at as an abject failure every time? Surely that is a sad indictment on those who make the decisions around senior recruitment?

Personally I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s another change soon. We’ve been down this road so many times you start to get familiar with the signs, the quotes from the managers after the games, the way the goals are conceded. Let’s hope Advocaat doesn’t get the sack though. Should he decide to walk away then at least it feels like it would be a change forced upon the club rather than one it sought for itself.

So have the players stopped listening to Advocaat? I’m not sure that’s the case. The six or seven new signings that arrived in the summer have only just had over half a dozen games to start listening never mind stop. Whatever the reason stability is key. I don’t feel it’s a question of the head coach losing the dressing room. It’s more a symptom of larger, longer-term frailties worsening. Maybe Sunderland supporters will soon see the club take another step backward. Let’s hope if it does it’s in order to make a few more forward.