It has been another tumultuous week for Sunderland and the events that have taken place haven’t exactly painted Phil Parkinson in a good light.
Now, he has upset supporters even more by failing to attend his post-match press conference after the draw against Blackpool, with accusations that he is a coward who lacks leadership.
However, he did show a lot of bottle to handle Aiden McGeady in the way he did this week, ostracising the Irishman and placing him on the transfer list due to the negative influence he has on the rest of the squad.
That was a bold decision, and since it didn’t help to end what is now an eight-match winless run, Parkinson may not have felt too confident about dealing with questions from the media. Fans are clearly shocked by that.
Considering the pressure he is under having won just two games in 13, the Black Cats’ boss has clearly made the wrong call by not making himself available for questioning.
He made some big calls against the Seasiders, such as dropping Will Grigg and the usual centre-back pairing of Jordan Willis and Joel Lynch, and fans will want to know why.
It could be a worrying sign that the fan discontent is beginning to affect his mindset, and some believe his behaviour alone is worthy of being sacked, let alone the shocking results on the pitch.
In more positive news, Parkinson could pave the way for encouraging youngster Jack Bainbridge to play his way into first-team contention, and that could give the squad a bit of a lift.
