How do you solve a problem like Sunderland?

When was the last time Sunderland had a good season in the Premier League? Cast your mind back. Go on. It seems like forever before you can remember a time that the North-East powerhouse's name was not being used as a byword for failure. Incidentally, it was the 2010-2011 when the Black Cats finished 10th with Asamoah Gyan scoring 10 goals that was the best of their recent nine season spell in the Premier League. Before that there were two consecutive seventh-placed finishes between 1999 and 2001.

Football at the bottom end of the Premier League has become increasingly cyclical, with older clubs falling out of the league and being replaced by new faces. The ones that tend to avoid the continual relegation/promotion merry-go-round usually end up establishing themselves with the Big Boys, and even achieve some relative success - think Stoke, Swansea, and West Brom.

But for all their recent time in the Premier League, every season seems to start with the assumption that Sunderland will be in and around the trap-door by the time May comes to an end. And for every season bar three that they have competed in in the top division recently, that assumption has been proven correct. Why is it that such a big club (arguably tied with Newcastle for the title of Top Club in the North-East, with a stadium capacity of a whopping 42,000) is continuing to struggle with no sign whatsoever of achieving a decent finish in the Premiership?

It's no secret that Sunderland are locked in a perpetual cycle of hiring a manager to escape relegation, only to fire him the next season when relegation looms its head again. The new man comes in, saves the team from the Championship, and the circle begins again. New players are brought in by the new manager, and as such the core never really seems to gel.

Sunderland fans may not want to hear it, but the best option may be for them to get relegated. A season or two in the Championship ridding the team of deadwood and introducing a manager who is hungry for a project: that just might be what is needed to cut through the fog of malaise that is suffocating the club. It did no harm to other clubs in the same position as Sunderland, but lessons must be learned.

Whether the owners are the type to learn remains an issue. One thing is for certain: this disappointing pattern looks certain to end soon. At 8/13 with Bet365, it looks like this could be the year for Sunderland.

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