Advocaat: 'Don't blame Ellis Short for this mess'

Saturday’s 3-1 home defeat to Norwich left Sunderland at the foot of the Premier League table, and resulted in a clear-the-air meeting at the Academy of Light training ground yesterday in which Advocaat challenged his players to account for their performances in the opening two matches.

Sunderland’s fans appear to be attributing the desperate start to a lack of investment from Short, with chants of “Are you watching Ellis Short?” cascading from the stands at regular intervals throughout the second half of Saturday’s game.

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The Black Cats have signed six players this summer, but one (Santiago Vergini) was immediately loaned to Getafe and the £9m sale of Connor Wickham to Crystal Palace means the club’s net spend of around £8m is one of the lowest in the top-flight.

The need for further additions was glaringly apparent as Sunderland were ripped apart by a club that was playing in the Championship last season, but Advocaat feels it would be wrong to criticise Short, whose £200m investment has effectively kept Sunderland afloat since he replaced the previous regime in 2009.

“With all respect, you cannot blame the president for this,” said the Black Cats head coach. “I have to blame myself and the players have to blame themselves – that is where the blame lies. Now, we have to find out if we can find a solution, otherwise we will have to change something. It’s as simple as that.”

Advocaat is understood to have discussed transfer issues with sporting director Lee Congerton yesterday, and it is still hoped that further additions will arrive before the transfer window closes on February 1.

However, potential loan deals for Fabio Borini and Adnan Januzaj are looking increasingly unlikely to come to fruition, with Borini’s reservations about returning to the Stadium of Light sure to have intensified following the opening two defeats and Januzaj having scored the only goal of the game as he returned to Manchester United’s starting line-up against Aston Villa on Friday night.

Advocaat remains keen to add a creative midfielder and striker to his squad before the transfer deadline a fortnight tomorrow, although his side’s defensive failings against Leicester and Norwich have highlighted the need for reinforcements in the back four.

An alternative to Patrick van Aanholt at left-back is now regarded as a priority, with former loanee Marcos Alonso available as he looks to leave Italian side Fiorentina.

Advocaat spoke of the need for “four or five quality additions” at the end of last season, but while Jeremain Lens is the only summer signing who can really be said to fit that description, the Dutchman also concedes that the current squad is badly under-performing.

Defensively negligent and toothless in attack, Sunderland were comprehensively outclassed by Norwich, and Advocaat will spend the next few days attempting to find an explanation for his players’ collective failings.

“I have to be diplomatic because there can be blame, but I have to blame myself sometimes as well if I see this,” he said. “We have to find a solution one way or the other and do what is best for the club.

“I cannot go on this way. It is quite simple, I have to find a solution for this team. If we keep playing this way we have no chance at all, and I don’t want that.

“With all respect, this team must be capable enough to get a good result against Norwich. If you can do it in the last eight or nine games of last season, then you can do it again against Leicester away. But I do not know what I have been seeing.”

For the second game in succession, Sunderland collapsed after conceding the first goal, a habit that suggests there is a lack of mental fortitude and collective resolve within the squad.

A strong team spirit was evident at the end of last season, but the opening two displays of the current campaign have raised worrying questions about the level of some players’ commitment and willingness to dig in when things start going against them.

“You look at the first game last week against Leicester and you can maybe put it down to a bad day at the office and say that we didn’t turn up as a team,” said skipper Lee Cattermole. “But two weeks on the trot, that doesn’t happen.

“I thought training had been great, really competitive, and we started the game okay. But then we concede the goal and it seems to be a case of, ‘What do we do now?’ At the minute, it looks like there’s nothing there. As a team and a group, we can’t be like that.”