THE more things change, the more they stay the same. This will be the fourth consecutive season that Sunderland have a manager in the dugout who took on the role part-way through the previous season and saved them from relegation.

To put that into perspective, 2010/11 was the last campaign that the same Black Cats manager finished the season as he started it. It was also the season that saw the club notch up their highest points tally in the eight seasons since they regained Premier League status.

It’s been a downhill slide since then with the club failing to break the 40-point mark for the last three years and the managerial inconsistency is undoubtedly the root cause of that.

Dick Advocaat is the latest to take the helm. However, age mean that even if he lasts the season he is unlikely to be at the Stadium of Light for the next one. Which begs the question, is he really the right man for the job?

Despite this, in the short-term the calm, uncomplicated manner in which he steadied the ship and guided the team to safety suggests he is a good appointment who can bring a season of much-needed stability to the club.

At times last term Sunderland’s defence looked shockingly brittle (the 8-0 rout at the hands of Southampton springs to mind but there were more than enough other examples to choose from) but there was a marked improvement in the nine games overseen by Advocaat. 

Ignoring defeat to Chelsea on the last day of the season, when Sunderland were safe and the champions in party mood, and a one-off horror show against Crystal Palace, they conceded just three in the other seven with the Dutchman in charge. That defence has been strengthened further with the additions of Younis Kaboul from Tottenham and Adam Matthews from Celtic.

Tying Lee Cattermole to a long-term deal ensures the heart of the team remains in place but Jack Rodwell has yet to justify the money spent on him at the start of last season while Adam Johnson’s sex offence trial will take place towards the end of August.

The outcome will clearly affect the creative options Advocaat has at his disposal, although Emanuele Giaccherini should return from the injuries that kept him out for most of last season.

The real problem last season came in front of goal. Sunderland scored only 31 goals, fewer than any other team apart from relegated Burnley, managing just seven wins in the process — the joint lowest tally alongside Burnley again.

Astonishingly the Black Cats drew 17 matches — five more than any other team and if things are going to be different this season Advocaat is going to have to help his players find their way to goal.

Jermain Lens, an £8 million capture from Dynamo Kyiv, opened his account in the club’s final pre-season friendly against Hannover 96 and the Dutch winger, who can also play as a second striker, should provide part of the answer. But he won’t provide all of it and you can’t help but feel that neither will the remaining strikers.

Stephen Fletcher, Danny Graham and even Jermain Defoe have all failed to convince in their time at the Stadium of Light, while Connor Wickham, another who has failed to live up to their potential, sealed his mooted move to Crystal Palace yesterday.

Sunderland’s squad — a hybrid mess of four other managers’ signings — is still light in quality and strength in depth, particularly up front.

Despite what he achieved last season, Advocaat will have his work cut out to ensure that they avoid another lengthy relegation battle.