• ‘Has correct direction been given?’ asks seventh manager in five years • Moyes: ‘We’re up against it. But the players need to lift their levels too’

David Moyes has questioned whether the cause of Sunderland’s seemingly eternal relegation embroilments lies within the boardroom as well as the dressing room as he seeks his first Premier League win since succeeding Sam Allardyce.

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“Is it correct leadership from the top?” queried Sunderland’s seventh manager in five years, who takes his team to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday. “Has correct direction been given? Most managers have come here on the back foot. They’re not coming in here smiling, on top of it, really positive because they have nearly always been trying to put out the bush fires, to stop things getting worse all the time. I can see that.”

If there have been damaging fault lines inside the boardroom there are clearly deep flaws in the dressing room with the team narrowly escaping relegation in each of the past four seasons. Moyes is braced for another struggle to stay out of the Championship but believes it is largely down to the players to break this dismal cycle. “We’re up against it, undoubtedly. But I have got to say, the players here need to lift their levels because for too long it’s been too close to the bottom level.

“They need to show that this is not their level because maybe soon people might say it’s got nothing to do with the managers here, maybe it’s got something to do with the players. The players have to lift their levels for us to be competitive.”

Following the dispiriting 3-0 home defeat by Everton on Monday night Sunderland – who have only one point from four games this season – appear to have their work cut out at White Hart Lane.

At least Lamine Koné, the Ivorian central defender coveted by Everton, has signed a new five-year contract following a summer when he appeared desperate to depart Wearside. “In truth, Lamine Koné’s situation took an awful lot of focus away from both me and the chief executive, Martin Bain, during the transfer window,” Moyes said. “But it was worth it because he’s a good player, we need him. But he’s now gone to a level [of remuneration] where he has to become a leader – he has to become a top player. We need him to perform at a really high level now.”

Last season Koné, the German midfielder Jan Kirchhoff, who has just recovered from injury, and the Tunisia winger Wahbi Khazri were Allardyce’s “Special K’s”. The trio signed in January and played a pivotal part in the avoidance of relegation but since then Khazri’s form and fitness appear to have deserted him. “Khazri came back a bit later than the others this summer and his conditioning was down,” Moyes said.

“His conditioning’s looking better now but my biggest concern is that he needs to keep the ball better. That’s something I have simply not yet seen from him. He’s a player we definitely need and we want him to make difference on the pitch but, if he plays, he has got to keep the ball.”