AT some stage, Sunderland will be able to draw a line under the excesses of the past and move on. Eventually, the club will reach a point where previous mistakes are remedied, and age-old failings repaired. The problem for Stewart Donald, as he attempts to put together a financial plan for the next few years, is that such a point remains some way off yet.
Installing some new seats at the Stadium of Light is one thing, sweeping away the catastrophic mismanagement overseen by the former regime is quite another. Donald and his fellow director, Charlie Methven, spoke optimistically about balancing the books when they replaced Ellis Short at the start of the summer, but a little over three months on, and reality has bitten hard.
Highly-paid players have proved impossible to shake. In the case of Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong, whose combined salaries are understood to run to close to £100,000-a-week, a resolution may be close.
L’Equipe reported yesterday that Sunderland have initiated plans to dismiss Djilobodji for gross misconduct, a move the defender is planning to contest. Djilobodji agreed to forego his wages at the start of the summer in order to remain in France to look for alternative employers, and claims he was not instructed to return when a series of proposed moves broke down. Sunderland, with some justification, will argue it is not their responsibility to check one of their employers knows he is expected to report to his workplace.
The situation is a mess, but a solution looks possible, even if it has to come via the courts. For his part, Djilobodji is hoping to be free of his contract so he can negotiate a move as a free agent in January. That would probably suit Sunderland, but only if it does not come at a cost.
Ndong could move on before the end of the month with the Portuguese transfer window still open for another fortnight, and at this stage, there is no suggestion that the Gabon international will follow Djilobodji’s lead and return to Wearside expecting to be paid. Even so, there is still a theoretical chance that could happen in the future, making it difficult for Donald to formulate firm financial plans.
ABSENT WITHOUT LEAVE: Didier Ndong has not trained with Sunderland since the end of last season
That is bad enough for Sunderland’s new owner, but even if Djilobidji and Ndong disappear into the sunset, the wage bill they would leave behind is still completely out of kilter with life in League One.
“I think we’ve got the wage bill down from £20m-odd, and excluding those two (Djilobodji and Ndong), the existing squad is down to £11m,” said Donald, in a recent interview on the Roker Rapport podcast. “We’ve managed to halve it, and the new squad has cost about £3m to put together.
“But that tells you the challenge that we have. In this league, £3-4m is a decent wage (bill), and with a £5-6m budget, you’re at the top. We’ve spent that on players – the £3-4m – but we’ve still got £11m in the existing squad, although we probably don’t have £11m worth of value.
“With League One revenues, even with 30,000 fans, that’s not sustainable. We’ve had one window, so over the next couple of windows, we’re going to have to try and improve that, but the problems is that it has left us with almost no wiggle room.”
In other words, even without Djilobodji and Ndong, Sunderland are operating with a wage bill that is around twice the size of any other in the league. Clearly, in the long term, that is unsustainable.
Promotion at the first time of asking would help, but regardless of the Black Cats’ decent start under Jack Ross, it cannot be taken as a given. And the monthly wage bill still has to be paid between now and the end of the season.
Why has it remained so stubbornly high? The continued presence of Bryan Oviedo and Lee Cattermole is a major factor, with the two players alone understood to be earning a combined total of more than £3m-a-year. Aiden McGeady, currently injured, is another player receiving more than £1m over the course of 12 months.
Oviedo and Cattermole are a completely different proposition to Djilobodji and Ndong, and it is to both players’ credit that they have knuckled down so willingly to embrace a role in League One.
HIGHLY PAID: Sunderland midfielder Lee Cattermole
Ross has certainly been impressed, and in an ideal world, the Sunderland boss would no doubt like to have both players in his squad for the remainder of the season. Come January though, if an offer is placed on the table, they will surely have to go. The same is true of McGeady, and probably Duncan Watmore too if he returns to full fitness and impresses potential suitors in the last couple of months of the year.
Having been unable to recruit a new striker at the end of the last transfer window, Ross will almost certainly want to increase his attacking options come January. As things stand, though, that will be all-but-impossible.
“January is going to be a challenge for us because of what we’ve got in our squad,” admitted Donald. “We’ve got to get ourselves into a position whereby if Jack needs something in January, we’re in a position to do it. There’s going to be some work needed in January to make sure that happens.”
There is bound to be a sense of frustration at having to clean up a mess caused by others, but at least Donald is being honest and open, and not attempting to bury his head in the sand.
Supporters will respect that, but it does not make things any easier. Sunderland’s bright new future will have to remain on hold for a little while yet.
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