At the end of the day, what happens on the football pitch will always be what matters most to the Sunderland fans. And, over the last few weeks, the football has been pretty good. The side are on a seven-game unbeaten run, winning four of their last five games. To add to this, they have bolstered their squad with the signings of Kyle Lafferty and Bailey Wright this window, which will hopefully be enough to help the team rise from League One in May.
But, while the football is good, the fans are still concerned about the ownership situation of the club. A few weeks ago the club issued a statement ensuring fans that Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven were looking at finding suitable buyers to sell the club. This came a month after Methven resigned from his position as director. But this week Methven spoke to BBC Radio Newcastle (via Sunderland Echo) to provide an update.
Fans were confused at his media presence. They think he is just trying to make the fans feel slightly better about their quiet January after the side’s recent attempts to sign Rangers’ Greg Docherty hit a snag.
I've not listened yet, may I should before making judgement, but am guessing because yesterday a transfer was reported to have broken down due to money our 'PR expert' has come out of hiding to make us all feel that every thing is OK?
— lea (@LPHyellowGP) January 21, 2020
Clearly on the defensive. Spinning everything so it’s not his fault. Bigging up the sale options. CM has gone full on Johnson here! “Everything is fine and everything will be great”… Only we know how such talk ends up in reality…..
— Mark Carrick (@MarkCarrick08) January 21, 2020
Didn’t hear it but presume he dummed* everything down to words of no more than two syllables for us northern thickies.
— It’s Just Lee (@LMc10_SAFC) January 21, 2020
Do you think Methven should keep quiet?
Yes
No
Others question why he brought up the club’s ownership situation at all, considering the club’s previous statement said no further updates would be given until a suitable buyer was found.
“Owing to confidentiality agreements, there will be no further updates until a preferred bidder is identified,” the statement read.
Didn’t the club put out a statement saying nothing more will be said on the takeover until its done? So why is he coming out talking about it now? Just an other contradiction in a rather large list of them.
— dan hill (@danjhill29) January 21, 2020
I woke up to reaction but haven’t heard the interview. Even then thou, all I can think is ‘why’??? Didn’t he resign from the board? So what’s he doing talking to the media?
— Gavin Frater (@njmackem) January 21, 2020
Is there more to it because if that’s all there is (what the interviewer alleged he said)then what on earth are people moaning about? And if this was a private meeting it should have stayed private as agreed.
— Paul Hutchinson (@Ph65PauloDingle) January 21, 2020
What do we think?
During a time where the football is starting to look much better, perhaps it is the perfect time for the owners to stay quiet. If the club manages to get out of the league, the fans will be happy. Until then, they should quietly get on with business and let Phil Parkinson do his job.