Kieron Brady, the former Sunderland winger and BBC analyst on the Black Cats, hopes a change of ownership will herald a change of approach at his former club. Writing exclusively for The Northern Echo, Brady offers his thoughts on Stewart Donald and Ellis Short's tenure

‘FOOTBALL, theatre without a script’ – words attributed to David Dein, former vice chair at both Arsenal and the Football Association. While such sentiments are hardly prophetic it is indisputable that they do offer a veracity. Here we are in the close season with a League One campaign on the horizon and the self-deprecation that Sunderland fans have become so adept at is gradually being replaced by a sense of anticipation, even cautious optimism, about the future.

Such a scenario has been constructed, in part, owing to the growing criteria that emerged over recent times that stipulated that a Sunderland owner should simply be ‘not Ellis Short’. The disdain towards the Missouri-born mogul had been cultivated while co-existing with on-field adversity and the club afflicted with an unprecedented embarrassment after illuminated shame.

A proud people, the moral custodians of the club had watched helplessly as Short withdrew, both financially and emotionally. Both not an option for a support that places the club as the pulse of the city and is representative of their emotional wellbeing.

It was in the twilight of the season that their aspirations looked like being realised. Relegation may have been endured for a second time in a year, but amidst the despondency were the origins of hope. After so much uncertainty, with the ubiquitous fear that the debt would forever deter, we had the revelation that a knight in red and white armour was journeying north.

Stewart Donald, slowly and affectionately earning the soubriquet The Don, is the man who is now seen as salvation. With trusted aide Charlie Methven at his side it is the hope that the twosome can be the driving force for the club to be competitive in a genuine and sustainable manner. To date we can only judge on intention and word but, of course, ultimately, we will reach the stage where other considerations will become relevant. The initial objective must be promotion, if we are to witness the necessary transformation then there can be no reservations in impressing, publicly and privately, that an instant return to the second tier is non-negotiable.

The removal of debt may not absent pre-existing running costs, a blank canvas may not equate to a blank cheque, but nevertheless even modest investment allied with players already in the employ of the club should suffice in such an ‘achievement’. Running concurrent with the hoped-for improvement in performance and results should be a resolve to address the more invisible matters that continuously stifle the club from realising its undeniable potential. In this context there must be a recognition that fluctuating fortunes and stagnation cannot simply be addressed through a managerial revolving door nor a hugely significant turnover of players.

It is incumbent upon Messrs Donald and Methven to detoxify the club – to create the imperative change that ensures that upon arrival at the club new recruits are au fait with new realities – that this is a club that has all new aspirations, expectations, discipline – all of which are the offspring of an ethos that will strive towards being a team that should accurately reflect a stadium that can accommodate almost 50,000 spectators, that has the fanbase to occupy it to capacity and who show a depth of loyalty rarely seen elsewhere. As the empowered and responsible they, Donald and Methven, cannot afford to disregard certain wisdom that was imparted to, and ignored by, previous powers that be.

That support takes comfort in reading about former players who warmed to their affections, who ‘loved their time up there’. It is understandable but equally concerning if we do not know the exact reasons why they enjoyed it. Often, sadly, the answer is that it represents an easy ride, a footballing halfway house as they plot their next career move.

In ten years’ time I look forward to a player, formerly of Sunderland, espousing publicly that they did not like their time in Sunderland because the standards and expectations were of the highest order and they, for whatever reason, were unable to comply.

That will tell us that the club is where it should be, where the profound emotional and financial contribution of its support, deserve it to be.