Five reasons why it all went wrong for Poyet

POYET LOST THE PLAYERS?

THE one thing that Gus Poyet could cling on to over the last few months was that his players were all pulling in the right direction, and they were largely supportive of his ideas.

He was seen as a breath of fresh air after the Paolo Di Canio era, where players were encouraged to express themselves, and this translated on to the pitch with some superb team performances that drove Sunderland to a successful battle against relegation last season and a cup run that culminated in a Wembley final.

It was understood that Poyet was still a popular presence on the training ground but Saturday’s capitulation to Aston Villa suggested that his players had simply given up on the Uruguayan.

A failure to close down attackers, walking back from an attacking position, blaming others around them when they had lost the ball and the farcical situation surrounding Seb Larsson at half-time all indicated that whatever worked for Poyet and his players had become broken.

THE SYSTEM NEVER WORKED

POYET was appointed with much fanfare owing to his record at Brighton and Hove Albion.

Anyone who had watched the Seagulls under Poyet would see a savvy team with a genuine sense of purpose, with an obvious ideology and philosophy.

As a result, Poyet was given a lot of time by Sunderland to make changes, to turn the squad he was given into a solid, creative force as had been created on the south coast.

But, with the exception of a few games towards the end of the season, Poyet was forced to chop and change. You never got the impression that he fully trusted the players he had, and most of the time his experiments failed - or he didn’t stick with them long enough.

His plan to play a diamond formation behind Connor Wickham and Jermain Defoe looked encouraging at Tottenham but was never seen again.

There was no continuity in team selection. If there was a philosophy, an ideology, a blueprint, then it became lost somewhere down the line.

EXPECTATIONS, EXPECTATIONS

WHAT do Sunderland want to achieve in the Premier League? Do they crave season after season of stability, earning the TV money without troubling the upper echelons of the league; or do they fancy a crack at a European place, like Southampton have done?

Many have pointed towards Swansea and Southampton as teams who have managed to thrive in the Premier League who are perceived to be smaller than Sunderland.

Since their return to the Premier League in 2007-8, Sunderland have finished in the top ten once and had not troubled it before or since. Following every season of beating the drop, they speak of ‘the next level’. What is the next level? Mid-table safety or something more?

Fanbase means nothing in the Premier League. It does not entitle a club to finish in the top ten. So while Sunderland are considered to be a big club, a sleeping giant, there is little over the last 50 years to suggest that is the case.

Their scattergun approach to transfers, managerial appointments will never bring sustained success, regardless of the crowd that turns out to see them.

Sunderland are the club that shoot for the stars but end up in the gutter, time and time again.

LONG-TERM VISION, SHORT-TERM ACTIONS

THE appointment of a director of football with a head coach working beneath him is something that Sunderland brought in to end the revolving door policy of players and managers, but that has not borne fruit yet.

Lee Congerton may be a nice man with good football ideas, but he has done one media interview so far - with BBC Newcastle - and little is known about his vision for the club.

He spoke about bringing in good, young, British talent with Premier League experience. Anyone who understands football knows there is a premium on British players, so he was already fighting a losing battle. Jack Rodwell, on paper, looked to be a good signing. But he has not been given anything like a decent run in the team.

Signing Jermain Defoe undermined everything that Sunderland spoke about. A 32-year-old player who is past his best. His current level might still yet be good enough for Sunderland, but bringing the former Spurs striker in on big money seemed to show that the Black Cats’ blueprint was in tatters.

Sunderland’s next appointment is their most important. Financially, they need to be in the Premier League with the new TV deal looming. By hook or by crook, they need to be in that cartel of 20 teams when the financial landscape changes.

THE PROBLEMS RUN DEEPER THAN THE MANAGER

PAOLO Di Canio, prophetically, spoke of his fear that Sunderland’s director of football theory would not work. “I spoke to the chairman after four years and he wasn’t very happy,” said the former Swindon Town manager on Ellis Short's decision to change the structure at the club. “He wanted change and a different environment. The idea was to bring in the Italian mentality.

“But for me that is wrong. I left Italy for this reason.

“If something goes wrong in two months, Paolo Di Canio is going to be sacked. In Italy, the general director chooses the manager, the coach and the players. If something goes wrong after two months, the manager is going to be sacked.

“This is why the Italian league is a disaster."

Di Canio was indeed sacked. And now Poyet has carried the can. But should it be the head coach each time? How many times will Sunderland pull the trigger before they run out of bullets?

As much as Poyet had lost his way, Congerton and Short need to accept some responsibility. Taking a step back and assessing whether this structure will work on Wearside in the first place is a good start.