JACK ROSS admits Sunderland have to learn the lessons of the disastrous recruitment decisions that resulted in Papy Djilobodji and Didier Ndong signing lucrative long-term contracts that helped bring the club to its knees.

Djilobodji’s two-year spell as a Sunderland player came to an end earlier this week when the club terminated his contract, although the saga could rumble on for a few months yet with the French defender set to take legal action for unfair dismissal.

Ndong is still on an unauthorised absence after failing to report for pre-season training at the start of the summer, and while Sunderland officials are willing to tolerate the status quo while a number of overseas transfer windows remain open, they will also dismiss the Gabon international if he returns to Wearside seeking payment at any stage in the future.

The situation has been a complete mess, and having been unable to recruit a striker at the end of the summer transfer window because Sunderland’s budget was close to breaching Financial Fair Play regulations, Ross finds himself unable to plan for January amid the ongoing financial uncertainty.

Under the former regime, Sunderland shelled out exorbitant wages for players that were only interested in their pay packet, and there is a clear determination to ensure previous mistakes are not repeated. A major backroom overhaul saw Tony Coton appointed as Sunderland’s new head of recruitment in the summer, and the former goalkeeper is working closely with Ross to ensure a raft of new procedures and checks are introduced.

“I’m not casting aspersions over the people who have been here in the past and made decisions, but they’ve probably got too many wrong,” said Ross, who will lead his side back into action at Burton Albion tomorrow.

“You’re always going to get some wrong – I’ve got ones wrong in the past, and I’m sure I’ll continue to do that. It’s impossible to get every single player you recruit right, but you have to get more right than you don’t, and you certainly have to make sure they never develop into something that can have a detrimental effect on the football club moving forward.

“We need to make sure we’ve got a different process in place, and there will be. We’re playing catch-up a little bit in that respect because it was a new start for everybody, and Tony has had to spend so much time on moving players out and finding solutions to particular problems. He’s not been able to do what he was appointed to do, but that will hopefully start to pick up from now.”

With legal proceedings ongoing, Ross was understandably reluctant to discuss the finer details of Djilobodji’s dismissal. He did, however, concede that people outside football would find it hard to believe that someone could contest their sacking if they failed to turn up for work two months, even though he feels it would be wrong to assume players are always in the wrong when there are disputes with their employers.

“Each and every case has to be taken on its own merits,” said the Sunderland boss. “I used to work with the PFA and I’ve done quite a bit of work for FIFPro. I’ve seen some cases where players have been treated appallingly by clubs.

“I won’t say where and when, but I’ve also seen cases where players have behaved appallingly and not in line with what you would expect from them as professionals. I think it’s dangerous to be general about it.

“My experience is that there’s probably more procedures put in place to protect the player in the case when the club was wrong, so there has to be that balance between the two.

“My role has changed because I’m a manager now, but I would never take the stance of saying that all players are wrong all the time. There’s a complex scenario in football with football contracts and how they meet with employment law.”

Of more immediate concern is Sunderland’s starting line-up at Burton tomorrow, and Ross could name Aiden McGeady in his squad for the first time, with the Irish international having returned to full training this week.

McGeady missed the first month of the season with a calf injury, but has impressed on the training ground in the last couple of days and is being considered for a return to the squad tomorrow.

Bryan Oviedo returned from international duty in the early hours of yesterday morning and is unlikely to start at the Pirelli Stadium, and Ross could also be without Dylan McGeouch after the midfielder suffered a recurrence of a calf problem.

“We’ve had a couple of issues with Denver (Hume) and Jack (Baldwin), but they’ve trained and they’re okay,” said the Black Cats boss, who will be looking to extend his side’s unbeaten start to the league campaign. “We’ve got a slight concern with Dylan, but it’s only really Duncan (Watmore) now on the long-term list.

“Aiden has joined in training this week. He’s been out for four months, but felt joining in with us would accelerate his progress. They were tough sessions, so we’re definitely getting closer in terms of having him available.”