AS he wandered onto the pitch at the final whistle, applauding all four sides of the Stadium of Light with his hands above his head, Phil Parkinson must have been wondering what all the fuss was about.

Crisis, what crisis? In his previous job at Bolton Wanderers, Parkinson had been forced to treat each home game as if it might be his last, such was the calamitous state of his employers’ finances. Sunderland have their own problems, but on a night like this, they hardly seem insolvable. Three up before half-time, Parkinson’s new side ensured he could enjoy his home debut in an unexpectedly relaxed state. That the evening ended with the Black Cats’ biggest victory since Roy Keane’s side secured promotion at Luton Town in 2007 merely added to the sense of satisfaction.

Parkinson’s predecessor never saw his side score five, and whereas Sunderland’s players had looked jaded and browbeaten by the end of Jack Ross’ reign, here they were bright, positive and energetic as they comprehensively outplayed a poor Tranmere side. Maybe that is Parkinson already working his magic? Maybe a change is as good as a rest? Maybe it is the hint of a new dawn that will ultimately come to nothing? Time will tell, but it is undoubtedly a positive start.

If nothing else, Parkinson appears to have elicited an immediate reaction from Sunderland’s attacking players, with Will Grigg and Duncan Watmore both producing their best performances of the season and Chris Maguire also enjoying one of his better nights.

Watmore scored his side’s first goal with a crisp first-time finish, and set up another two before the interval, winning a free-kick that Maguire decisively converted before teeing up Lynden Gooch to turn home from close range. Late goals from Grigg and Luke O’Nien proved the icing on the cake.

Watmore was the star of the show though, and one wonders where the 25-year-old’s career would have taken him over the last two or three years had he not suffered such desperately bad luck with injury.

On last night’s evidence – and admittedly, it was only his fifth league start in the last 14 months – Watmore certainly looks a cut above League One level. How Parkinson will hope he can keep him fit for the remainder of the season.

He will also be keen to keep Grigg performing at this level. The £4m man’s promotion to last night’s starting line-up became all-but-inevitable once the full extent of Charlie Wyke’s ankle injury was confirmed, and while Parkinson did his best to talk Grigg up in his pre-match press briefing on Monday, you get the strong impression the new Sunderland boss would rather be pinning his hopes on a more physical centre-forward.

Nevertheless, with Wyke set to be sidelined for at least a month, Marc McNulty having flattered to deceive since moving to Wearside and Benji Kimpioka’s contract situation still unresolved, Grigg is pretty much the only show in town when it comes to selecting a leader of the line. If he plays like this every week, however, Parkinson will not be complaining.

Just three minutes had gone when the Northern Irishman stole ahead of his marker for the first time, and while his improvised first-time volley from Chris Maguire’s cross crashed against the right-hand upright, the tone for the rest of the night had been set.

Relishing his lone-striker role, Grigg caused problems all evening, holding up the ball, eagerly running the channels and tying up at least one of Tranmere’s centre-halves to create space for those playing off him.

Both Maguire and Watmore profited from his industry, with the latter proving particularly effective as he played a major role in all three of Sunderland’s first-half goals.

His quality was evident from the effortless way in which he converted his side’s 24th-minute opener, having raced beyond the Tranmere defence to reach Grigg’s through ball.

There was still plenty to do as Watmore bore down on goal, but without breaking stride, he swept a low first-time finish into the bottom left-hand corner.

Two minutes later, and his comfort in possession was helping Sunderland double their lead. His mazy run towards the penalty area was halted by a crude foul from George Ray, resulting in an inviting free-kick on the edge of the box. Maguire stepped up, and hammered a fierce low finish past a motionless Scott Davies in the Tranmere net. For all that he has been in and out of the side this term, the strike means Maguire is Sunderland’s leading scorer with five league goals.

His link-up play with Watmore troubled Tranmere all night, and the pair combined to help extend their side’s lead even further six minutes before the break. Maguire played Watmore into the right-hand side of the area, and the winger skipped past his full-back to deliver a low cross from the byline. It was begging to be tapped in from close range, and Lynden Gooch was on hand to apply the finishing touch.

Tranmere’s only first-half effort came to nothing when Lee Burge, once again preferred to Jon McLaughlin, parried Kieron Morris’ low shot from the edge of the area, and the visitors were fortunate not to concede a fourth goal on the stroke of half-time when a horrendous defensive mix-up resulted in Gooch prodding the ball into an empty net. Grigg was adjudged to have pushed a Tranmere defender in the melee, a call that would have been much more controversial had Sunderland’s dominance not been so complete.

Perhaps understandably, the hosts slackened off slightly at the start of the second half, and their night might have become marginally more difficult had the woodwork not come to their rescue 11 minutes after the break.

Payne nipped ahead of his marker to meet an out-swinging corner from the left, but his glanced header hit the right-hand upright and rebounded to safety.

That was as good as it got for Tranmere, with Sunderland quickly regaining the attacking rhythm that had served them so well before the break. McNulty skipped past Ray, only to loft the ball over the crossbar as he tried to chip the advancing Davies, and the substitute set up Grigg’s goal with seven minutes left.

He cut the ball back from the byline after his initial effort had been saved, enabling Grigg to stab home his first league goal of the season from close range.

O’Nien applied the finishing touch in stoppage time, powering home a diving header to convert Maguire’s free-kick from the right touchline.