Maybe it's the editing, but episodes two and three were pure car crash television. Yes, Bain comes across as a bit smarmy, but I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for him in these two episodes. He's obviously been given a remit to lower costs and change certain aspects of the organizational culture at the club, but despite Sunderland's modern facilities, everything seems so backwards. Communication appears to be poor at all levels. On the pitch, Grayson has one of his coaches text new back-up keeper Robbin Ruiter to inform him that he's playing without apparently informing Jason Steele that he has been dropped. Both keepers seem confused by the decision.
Again perhaps due to the editing, the manner in which the youth coach discusses the strategy to incorporate younger players almost appears to have been wedged in during the transfer window, rather than at the beginning of the season. That said, myself and other posters in this thread have repeatedly brought up the faults in Sunderland's recruitment policy and use of its academy system, which could have helped strengthen their position and build on their high quality infrastructure resources.
The scouting and recruitment session was utterly cringeworthy and amateurish, when someone added Zlatan Ibrahimovic to a recruitment list and the scouts apparently hadn't factored in wages. Oh and then there is the segment during which one of the club's head scouts turns his nose up at a player at Scunthorpe seemingly for wearing gloves early in the season. And then in episode three, after the sponsors Q&A at the ground in the previous episode featuring two exceptionally disinterested players, the club decide to have a supporters' Q&A session at a fucking pub featuring two more exceptionally disinterested players with the same results. Amazing to think this is a multimillion pound business.
