Sunderland's boardroom Neros continue to fiddle while Rome burns.
Their 'calm and patient' approach to appointing a new head coach has seen the club's automatic promotion hopes reduced to ashes in the space of ten days.
They have turned a drama - the disgraceful 6-0 defeat at Bolton - into a full-blown crisis, with the knee-jerk sacking of Lee Johnson on the eve of transfer deadline day sending the club into a tailspin that has seen further shameful losses against basement side Doncaster Rovers and now at struggling Cheltenham Town.
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Forget the notion that everything is under control, matters are in hand, alternative head coaches were under constant consideration, the process rumbles on, succession planning, and all that baloney.
Majority shareholder Kyril Louis-Dreyfus let the cat out of the bag last Tuesday when he admitted that the search only began that morning - a full 36 hours after Johnson's departure.
Sunderland fans have made it clear that Roy Keane is the man they want to take over and, frankly, if the club does not deliver Keane, any other candidate will - fairly or otherwise - be seen as a massive let-down.
Sunderland sacked Johnson primarily because they feared missing out on automatic promotion.
And what a genius decision that has turned out to be!
They were third at the time, a point outside the promotion places (albeit Wigan had four games in hand of them), two points behind leaders Rotherham (who had two games in hand of them), and with a seven-point buffer between themselves and seventh place.
Today they are fourth, two points outside the top two (Wigan still having four games in hand), a massive 11 points behind Rotherham (who have one game in hand), and with their play-off buffer reduced to two points - and with several teams below them having played fewer games.
They are now looking for a head coach, be it Keane or anyone else, whose first task must be to ensure they do not miss out on the play-offs - something that felt unthinkable under Johnson, even after that Bolton result.
The new head coach will have 15 games to make an impact. Or at least they will if they are in place before this weekend's trip to AFC Wimbledon, and there is no guarantee that that will be the case.
There are those who feel Johnson should have been sacked earlier.
They should thank their lucky stars he wasn't - the chances are there still would not be a replacement in post, and the club would be tumbling towards midtable.
Sunderland's top brass - Louis-Dreyfus, sporting director Kristjaan Speakman, chief operating officer Steve Davison, non-exec director David Jones, and minority shareholder Charlie Methven - was at Whaddon Road last night and they should feel deeply, deeply, ashamed at what is happening on their watch.
It is easy to point the finger of blame at the players whose failings unfold in front of the fans, or at interim coaches Mike Dodds and Michael Proctor who have found themselves thrust into the eye of the storm.
And of course they must all accept their share of the blame.
But ultimately the buck stops at the top.
That is where the big decisions are taken.
And that is where the biggest failings lie.
Given the uncertainty and lack of leadership from above, it is hardly surprising that Sunderland look rudderless and brittle on the pitch.
The shift back to 4-2-3-1 and the inclusion of new signings Trai Hume, Jay Matete, and Jack Clarke from the start contributed to a positive first half, in which Alex Pritchard's brilliant free-kick gave the Black Cats a deserved half-time lead.
But in the second period they reverted to type, falling back to the pitiful levels they showed against Doncaster at the weekend.
Cheltenham turned the game round with two deflected goals, first from Elliott Bonds and then from Alfie May, in the final half-hour to register their first win in any competition since November 23.
The 1,520-strong travelling support who made the 500-mile round-trip on a midweek night could scarcely believe what they were watching, and at full-time they unleashed another wave of fury towards the players.
It was a completely understandable reaction in the circumstances.
Yet the message really needed to be delivered towards the row of stony faces in the directors' box.
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