Sunderland's Scouting Network Given The Boot

In the wake of last night's horror show at Villa Park, Ellis Short wasted no time this morning in preparing for a summer overhaul on Wearside as Chief Scout Pop Robson and his entire scouting network were given their marching orders.

Quite whether or not the timing of such a drastic decision from the board is purely coincidental or simply shows the club clearly the books in good time to prepare for a summer recruitment drive is up for debate, my money being on the latter.

Bryan "Pop" Robson has an extensive history with the club, having represented his boyhood club 174 times over three separate spells at Roker, before going on to even stand-in as caretaker manager following the departure of Alan Durban in 1984.

Robson also joined Peter Reid's backroom staff as Reserve Team coach and even Academy Director.

Robson's coaching roles didn't begin and end on Wearside however as the Robson would go on to have stints with the likes of Manchester United where he formed the Premier League Champions' Durham-based Centre of Excellence during an eight year spell with Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

Robson's move into scouting saw him take on major roles with the likes of Birmingham, Blackburn and Chelsea, where he was employed as an International scout, before joining Sunderland's scouting setup as Chief Scout in 2011.

It is obvious that Ellis Short is looking for a completely new approach to the club's dealings in the transfer market, possibly frustrated with the lack of value that was available from O'Neill's home-grown targets and I'm sure Paolo Di Canio has his own ideas on future recruitment.

Watch this space I guess.