By the end, Gus Poyet's position had become untenable.
There was a sense of inevitable drift about Sunderland, and when half of a 46,000 crowd have left by half time and a significant number of those who remain are trying to throw their season-tickets at the manager, dismissal probably is the only solution.
But that does not mean Poyet, who was fired on Monday, was the only problem, or even the biggest problem at the club.
The task for Dick Advocaat, his replacement, is simple. Keep Sunderland in the Premier League. He has nine games in which to maintain a one-point lead over Burnley, beginning against West Ham United on Saturday.
Realistically, 10 points would almost certainly be enough.
Even if Burnley do better, that would probably be enough to overhaul at least one of Hull City or Aston Villa, the latter resurgent as they have been under Tim Sherwood.
The good news for Sunderland is that a March change of leadership worked for them two years ago, when Martin O’Neill was dismissed with seven games remaining and Paolo Di Canio, with victories over Newcastle United and Everton, kept the club up.
The bad news is that the situation Advocaat inherits is probably worse than the one then.
Whatever Poyet’s failings – the most misguided perhaps being to attack Sunderland fans when his cautious, possession-based approach was questioned – this is a poor squad, a weaker one than the one that escaped relegation with an improbable late surge last season.
Four of the heroes of that freakish month in which Sunderland won away at Chelsea and Manchester United – Fabio Borini, Ki Sung-yueng, Marcos Alonso and Jack Colback – left the club in the summer, and none have been adequately replaced.
Who bears responsibility for that is open to debate. Poyet was unhappy for much of his tenure at the lack of control he had over signings, something that led to the departure of Roberto Di Fanti as director of football in January last year.
Relations with his replacement, Lee Congerton, are understood to have been strained.
It is true that the club has undergone a process of cost-cutting as Ellis Short, the Texas-based owner, looks to try to bring the club’s losses under control.
But it is also true that none of the signings Poyet is known to have pushed for – Ignacio Scocco, Will Buckley, Liam Bridcutt and Jermain Defoe – have been great successes.
The £14 million (Dh76.4m) capture of Defoe, in particular, will look like a panicky mistake should Sunderland go down, the promise suggested by goals in two of his first three league games soon fizzling out.
Goals and creativity have been an issue all season. Steven Fletcher has not been at his best, Connor Wickham’s purple patch towards the end of last season looks increasingly inexplicable, Emanuele Giaccherini has been injured – not that he has looked happy when he has been fit – Ricky Alvarez has been as frustrating as he was always likely to be, and Adam Johnson was out of sorts even before his arrest on suspicion of sexual activity with a 15-year-old girl.
The club initially suspended him, but after bail was extended he is back in the squad for the trip to West Ham.
There is a wider game being played as well. Sunderland soon came to regret having kept Di Canio on after the short-term goal of survival had been achieved and dismissed him a month into the following season.
Advocaat was recommended by Congerton’s confidante Frank Arnesen, but the sense is that he would have to achieve something remarkable in these nine games to be kept on, with the former England manager Steve McClaren the preferred option to take charge in the summer.
(When he was Middlesbrough manager between 2001 and 2006, he, too, was pelted with season tickets by angry home fans, coincidentally also during a 4-0 defeat to Aston Villa in February 2006, which at least suggests there is a precedent for such protests.)
How interested McClaren is will be largely dependent on whether Derby County, currently fifth in the Championship, are promoted, and, of course, on whether Sunderland survive.
Advocaat’s record as a coach is very good, with league titles in three countries and a Uefa Cup to his name, but his achievements since 2008 are thin. He has never worked in the Premier League, and he has never really been involved in a relegation battle.
He is a relatively big name and that may lift spirits, but his chief qualification, perhaps, is the fact that he is not Poyet.
sports@thenational.ae
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Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre twin-turbo flat-six
Power: 480hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 570Nm from 2,300-5,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Fuel consumption: 10.4L/100km
Price: from Dh547,600
On sale: now
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
Europe’s rearming plan
- Suspend strict budget rules to allow member countries to step up defence spending
- Create new "instrument" providing €150 billion of loans to member countries for defence investment
- Use the existing EU budget to direct more funds towards defence-related investment
- Engage the bloc's European Investment Bank to drop limits on lending to defence firms
- Create a savings and investments union to help companies access capital
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
Unresolved crisis
Russia and Ukraine have been locked in a bitter conflict since 2014, when Ukraine’s Kremlin-friendly president was ousted, Moscow annexed Crimea and then backed a separatist insurgency in the east.
Fighting between the Russia-backed rebels and Ukrainian forces has killed more than 14,000 people. In 2015, France and Germany helped broker a peace deal, known as the Minsk agreements, that ended large-scale hostilities but failed to bring a political settlement of the conflict.
The Kremlin has repeatedly accused Kiev of sabotaging the deal, and Ukrainian officials in recent weeks said that implementing it in full would hurt Ukraine.
Sheikh Zayed's poem
When it is unveiled at Abu Dhabi Art, the Standing Tall exhibition will appear as an interplay of poetry and art. The 100 scarves are 100 fragments surrounding five, figurative, female sculptures, and both sculptures and scarves are hand-embroidered by a group of refugee women artisans, who used the Palestinian cross-stitch embroidery art of tatreez. Fragments of Sheikh Zayed’s poem Your Love is Ruling My Heart, written in Arabic as a love poem to his nation, are embroidered onto both the sculptures and the scarves. Here is the English translation.
Your love is ruling over my heart
Your love is ruling over my heart, even a mountain can’t bear all of it
Woe for my heart of such a love, if it befell it and made it its home
You came on me like a gleaming sun, you are the cure for my soul of its sickness
Be lenient on me, oh tender one, and have mercy on who because of you is in ruins
You are like the Ajeed Al-reem [leader of the gazelle herd] for my country, the source of all of its knowledge
You waddle even when you stand still, with feet white like the blooming of the dates of the palm
Oh, who wishes to deprive me of sleep, the night has ended and I still have not seen you
You are the cure for my sickness and my support, you dried my throat up let me go and damp it
Help me, oh children of mine, for in his love my life will pass me by.
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Jordan cabinet changes
In
- Raed Mozafar Abu Al Saoud, Minister of Water and Irrigation
- Dr Bassam Samir Al Talhouni, Minister of Justice
- Majd Mohamed Shoueikeh, State Minister of Development of Foundation Performance
- Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education and Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Falah Abdalla Al Ammoush, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Basma Moussa Ishakat, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Ghazi Monawar Al Zein, Minister of Health
- Ibrahim Sobhi Alshahahede, Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Environment
- Dr Mohamed Suleiman Aburamman, Minister of Culture and Minister of Youth
Out
- Dr Adel Issa Al Tawissi, Minister of High Education and Scientific Research
- Hala Noaman “Basiso Lattouf”, Minister of Social Development
- Dr Mahmud Yassin Al Sheyab, Minister of Health
- Yahya Moussa Kasbi, Minister of Public Works and Housing
- Nayef Hamidi Al Fayez, Minister of Environment
- Majd Mohamed Shoueika, Minister of Public Sector Development
- Khalid Moussa Al Huneifat, Minister of Agriculture
- Dr Awad Abu Jarad Al Mushakiba, Minister of Justice
- Mounir Moussa Ouwais, Minister of Water and Agriculture
- Dr Azmi Mahmud Mohafaza, Minister of Education
- Mokarram Mustafa Al Kaysi, Minister of Youth
- Basma Mohamed Al Nousour, Minister of Culture
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
