Sunderland U21s' defeat to Aston Villa U21s was a humbling reminder that there's work to be done behind the scenes. Of course, the group is still relatively new with a number of new faces coming through the door, after others departed.
The majority of the group has recently returned from a pre-season camp in Canada which meant they missed the opening game of the season against Norwich, while the likes of Harrison Sohna, Caden Kelly and Michael Spellman have been on the fringes of Alex Neil's first team. Interim-boss John Hewitson handed out two debuts to new boys Callum Wilson and Max Thompson and the lack of cohesion amongst the group showed from the very off.
That's not to say any of the aforementioned players were particularly to blame for any of the goals, it was just a disjointed performance from start to finish, not helped by two different managers taking charge of the two opening games. The young Black Cats left themselves with a mountain to climb against the Villains, conceding two goals inside seven minutes, before Brad Young added another two either side of half-time.
READ MORE: Sunderland U21s 0-4 Aston Villa U21s reaction
Under-21s football is in part about development, while it's also about creating winning environment to help filter through into the first team. The uncertainty surrounding a head coach, at such an important part of players' development, is somewhat concerning.
Michael Proctor and Mike Dodds moved up to the first team to assist with Alex Neil at the end of July, but the club have not yet found a replacement. Alex Ackerley took charge of the Black Cats opening game of the Premier League 2 Division 2 campaign, with Hewitson still on tour with the majority of the Under-21s in Canada.
The stand-in coach said that the application process had now concluded on the eve of the game, but remained coy about whether he'd thrown his hat into the ring. Hewitson said: "I think most coaches who are ambitious would like to do the position. It's something that whether the club feel that I'm ready for it now, or whether it's something in the future, that's for them to decide."
"I believe there's a process as in the job was advertised, I believe it was closed today in terms of the applications, it's just a case of HR process over the next few weeks.
"Crystal ball, if I knew that, I'd put the lottery numbers on. It's up to the senior management and we'll see what happens there."
The Black Cats have lost the first two games of the season as they look to appoint a new manager and they currently lie bottom of the Premier League 2 Division 2.
Despite the successes of the academy in recent years - Dan Neil, Anthony Patterson and Jack Diamond to name but a few who have broken into the first team - the Black Cats have struggled in their domestic competition, despite investment into the squad. Alex Neil and Kristjaan Speakman were both in attendance to watch the Under-21s' humbling against Villa, with nobody giving the Sunderland head coach anything to think about after that 90 minutes.
The youngsters need some direction at an important part of their development and, truth be told, a head coach/ manager appointment should have been made before the first two games of the season.
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