Who is to blame for Sunderland's sorry state?

DICK ADVOCAAT

He might have headed back to Holland yesterday, but it would be harsh to single out Advocaat as the main cause of the current mess.

Sunderland could already be playing in the Championship had the Dutchman not succeeded Gus Poyet in March, and his decision to return in the summer was taken with the best of intentions.

It is possible to argue that, having reversed his original decision to leave Wearside in the summer, he should have honoured his commitment to the end of the season. If he believes promises have been broken, however, it is easy to see why he has decided enough is enough.

ELLIS SHORT

As the owner of the Black Cats, ultimately the buck stops with Short. He will be the first to admit he has made some poor decisions since taking over from the Drumaville Consortium, chief among them the ill-fated experiment with Paolo Di Canio and Roberto De Fanti that is still having a financial effect.

Has Short lost interest in Sunderland? The American claims not, and used his programme notes earlier this season to defend his summer outlay and reveal that the amount he funds every season is greater than the collective amount funded by every owner the club has had since the 1870s.

Nevertheless, by appointing a succession of poor managers, introducing a managerial structure that has not worked and at the very least limiting the amount of money that has been available, Short must take his share of the blame.

LEE CONGERTON

(Picture: SAFC)

Congerton’s arrival as sporting director in March 2014 was accompanied by the kind of fanfare that is normally reserved for the signing of a star centre-forward. He was going to transform Sunderland’s recruitment system from top to bottom and ensure the bad business of the past was not repeated.

If, as looks likely, he leaves along with Advocaat in the next few days, he will depart as a failure. Sunderland’s recruitment has not improved under Congerton, if anything it has become even more haphazard and chaotic.

Advocaat was pretty clear about what type of players he wanted this summer, but Congerton was unable to deliver them. Players arrived only to fail a medical, others are already struggling to live up to their billing and Sunderland’s star signing – Fabio Borini – was someone they had been trying to sign for two years. What happened to the cutting-edge scouting?

MARGARET BYRNE AND THE REST OF THE BOARD

Congerton is a visible presence thanks to his role as sporting director, but other members of the Sunderland hierarchy need to reflect on what they have been doing over the last two or three years.

As chief executive, Byrne’s remit is both wide-ranging and hugely important. She has to close deals and finalise contracts, play a key role in the recruitment of players, managers and members of the coaching staff and act as the key bridge between the playing side of the club and Short.

Her background is in the legal profession – has her lack of wider footballing knowledge hamstrung Sunderland? Does the club need someone like Niall Quinn, with an extensive footballing network at his fingertips, in the upper echelons of power?

THE PLAYERS

Ultimately, of course, footballing matters are decided on the pitch. Given that this is already shaping up to be the fourth successive season in which Sunderland have battled relegation, the club’s players have to take a great degree of responsibility for the Black Cats’ plight.

There is a core of players who have been at the club for three or four seasons now. Are they, as Di Canio was convinced, a pernicious influence? Or are they simply not good enough to succeed in the Premier League?

And of the players who have arrived in the last couple of years, how many are giving their absolute all every week? Plenty of supporters would argue it’s far too few.