Former Sunderland head coach Gus Poyet knows how Dick Advocaat is feeling

Poyet was sacked by Sunderland in March with the threat of relegation hanging over the club, and Advocaat succeeded the Uruguayan, leading the Black Cats to safety.

But a poor start to the season and a lack of progress in the transfer market has increased the odds on the Dutchman quitting the club.

Poyet was a pundit on Norwegian TV over the weekend, and was candid in his assessment of the situation on Wearside.

“I’ve got the feeling that Dick Advocaat is already unsettled, already fed up,” said Poyet on TV2. “It’s too early for that. When he decided to stay I think he was expecting a totally different team and he’s found himself playing with the same that finished last year except for two new players.

“It’s not nice. I can say I’m not responsible, and now the team is the same, or worse, so It’s like I told you so. I’ve been there and I’ve been trying to convince people that there is something inside that is not working.

“It could be the core of the team, the style of play, maybe they need to go old-fashioned. When you play a straight ball game your full-backs need to be in position. They are trying to play but they don’t have that ability. They’re getting caught all the time, with the full backs out of position. You’re in between. It happened to me. I think I know how Dick Advocaat is feeling inside.

“There is something. I don’t know what. If I knew I would call and tell them because I want to help them. It doesn’t matter what you do.”

Poyet had previously hinted at disharmony between himself and sporting director Lee Congerton while at Sunderland, and the former head coach suggested that the process of player recruitment was too slow to work in the Premier League.

“No one player arrived at the club without me saying I wanted him. That sounds perfect. But in reality, what happens is you find the players that you want, you propose players like I did. Those players won’t come, then after they give you names and names and names you’re going to have to take one.

“You can’t start the league without a striker, for example. So you’re going to have to accept the player because you’re a professional and you need it.

“I started pre-season last year without a right-back. Billy Jones was injured and we had to play Charis Mavrias, he played seven games at right back and he had no chance. He was a proper winger with no idea how to defend.

“Now, is that the best preparation for a season? We’re not talking about five-a-side football. Those situations make the process slower. And there’s no time in the Premier League.

“He’s thinking he needs players before the transfer window, but he needs to win on Saturday. That’s the feeling he’ll have.”

Poyet fears that more managerial changes will inevitably lead to Sunderland’s relegation from the Premier League.

“What I read between the lines is that he has been promised the lot but at the moment it’s still the same,” said Poyet. “That’s a bad feeling. He decided to stay. His wife didn’t want to know anything about Sunderland and he decided to stay. Everybody knows he’s not going to stay. So what is going to happen next year? Another manager.

“Theyre taking too many risks. I hope that one day people in there will wake up and say ‘you know what, Martin O’Neill was right. Paolo Di Canio was right. Gus Poyet was right. And probably Dick Advocaat is right. Because we need to change something. If we don’t, we’re going to go down.

“ I think they’ve got terrific potential. The supporters are unbelievable. They’ve got a massive derby which is unique. But it’s not working. You can’t have one, two, three, four consecutive managers because it has to be something else. It would be a real shame for them to go down.”