If we get relegated with Moyes, we risk letting him play the blame game again

The threat of relegation is anything but a foreign concept; it's something we're acquainted with season after season.

Acceptance is about the only sentiment I can harbor toward our situation - we've struggled against the odds for years, only to be bailed out by a new manager's resolve to survive. If we weren't going to learn from our mistakes, we had to know that a figurehead without the necessary backbone would eventually stumble through the managerial revolving door.

This is the reality of Sunderland under Moyes. A leader who has brought nothing but a famine of ambition.

The Scotsman's lack of self-belief is where the problem lies. The man refuses to gamble on his own abilities when the odds threaten to stack against him. Taking this job was never going to be easy, and the former Everton man would be the first to tell you - by pointing to each individual detail of alleged proof that he's a good workman with bad tools.

Following the two 2-1 defeats that comprised the start of our season, Moyes was comfortable enough to flatly admit that we were in for another long season as the Premier League's basement boys:

That's where they've been every other year for the last four years, so why would it suddenly change?

It's the club's fault, of course, not his. Sunderland have been in a bad way for ages, so it's obvious where the finger should be pointed.

Moments like this are where the problem lies. Moyes is more than happy to under-perform safe in the knowledge that he can blame the situation rather than himself. Underwhelming signings and irrational tactical justifications are perfectly acceptable because, after all, he's taken a hard job.

What the wider world perceives to be the brutal honesty of a man up against it is, in reality, nothing more than a long list of excuses which veil an astounding lack of resolve and belief that improvement can be made.

This is precisely why, in the event of relegation, David Moyes is most certainly not the man to take the club toward stability.

His sheer lack of willpower means there's too much risk involved. We're due a massive financial overhaul as we attempt to free up space on the wage bill and add new recruits to our ranks - and the idea of Moyes presiding over that makes my stomach churn.

It's a gold mine of excuses just waiting to be discovered by our defeatist prospector. What happens if Moyes isn't able to get the players he wants? Or if we're hit with a fresh wave of injuries again?

We can't trust him to keep his head up. If we find ourselves in the Championship next season, the last thing we need to hear is that man uttering in his characteristically flat, expressionless tone that we aren't able to push for promotion because of some fault of the club which he claims is beyond his control.

The man has already overseen one of our most soulless seasons in the top flight of English football, if he is allowed another year at the helm of our rickety ship, we run the risk of him getting off to a bad start again and pointing blame whichever way he fancies in order to shield his tarnished reputation.

We don't need another crippling blow to the club's already bruised morale. We need a manager who is prepared to improve our situation, not one who condemns his job because of it.