Alex Neil’s abrupt departure threatens to send Sunderland back into crisis

A penny for the thoughts of Jewison Bennette last Friday morning. Almost certainly still jet-lagged following his 8,600km journey from Costa Rica to the north-east of England, the 18-year-old winger arrived at the Academy of Light training ground to meet his new teammates having signed a four-year contract to play for Sunderland the previous day. “When you see the Stadium of Light and this huge fanbase, it gives you more desire to work hard day-to-day and give your all,” he said after signing his contract.

Bennette’s new manager could scarcely have been more effusive in his praise of a player who became the youngest footballer to represent Costa Rica when he came on as a substitute against El Salvador a year ago, but he preached caution. “We need to be patient and allow him time to acclimatise to a new country and learn the language,” said Alex Neil. “He is certainly one for the future.”

While that may well be the case, one of Bennette’s first actions as a Sunderland player was to bid farewell to the man who had signed him less than 24 hours previously. In a turn of events that has all but cemented Sunderland’s status as the English league’s top “banter” club, the Netflix cameras returned to the Academy of Light on Friday morning to begin recording a third series of the acclaimed documentary series Sunderland ’Til I Die and we can but hope they were rolling as a reportedly emotional Neil told his shocked players he was abandoning them to go and manage Stoke.

While Bennette might be one for Sunderland’s future, it became abundantly clear the manager who had guided them back to the Championship after a four-year purgatory in League One definitely was not. Even Sunderland fans will come to see the funny side once their