Fan Letters: “I’d rather have Mike Ashley as our owner than Stewart Donald!”

Dear Roker Report,

I would rather have a Mike Ashley than Stewart Donald as owner.

I really can’t believe the lack of ambition from Sunderland fans that hare happy with Stewart Donald’s tenure at our club.

He may be a nice guy but does that mean we need to languish in League One until he decides to sell the club - his tenure we will have all time lows regarding league finishing positions.

Stewart Donald has fulfilled his ambition to own a big club and is quite happy to carry on in the lower divisions, running it sustainably as long as the fans don’t kick up a fuss. He hasn’t even got funds in place to buy players if by some miracle we do get promoted.

The players we have mostly came for free from lower league clubs. We have a slightly above average League One side, an average League One manager and a non-league chairman, have Sunderland supporters expectations been lowered so much this is acceptable?

Mike Ashley may be a lot of things, however he is a successful businessman and would not want his brands linked with failure, therefore he would want us back in the Premiership where we belong. It is time Stewart Donald sold the club as he is now the biggest obstacle stopping Sunderland eventually returning to the top flight.

Billy

Ed’s Note [Alex]: While I’m sure none of us want the Sports Direct logo plastered over every vacant surface at the Stadium of Light, I see your point. Mike Ashley is a pretty horrid individual but he has undoubtedly invested a lot of time and money into ensuring Newcastle have an infrastructure and transfer policy which allows them to compete in the Premier League. That lot might put their fingers in their ears whenever anyone says that to them, but those facts remain regardless.

In contrast, Sunderland is a club currently run like a lot of National League clubs: there are very few senior adminstratiors, the youth setup is decidedly abject and we have one man and his dog constituting the entire recruitment team. With no money or substantial blueprint for success, I wouldn’t criticise any of our fans for wanting someone as morally bankrupt as Mike Ashley if it meant the club was run like a club of our stature should be.

Photo by Ian Horrocks/Sunderland AFC via Getty Images

Dear Roker Report,

I’ve been a SAFC supporter for 68 years I’ve seen bad teams, bad owners and bad managers but this present bunch takes the biscuit.

They are awful. If Bob Murray had put money into club when we finished 7th twice we would have still been in the Premier League but like all owners they are only interested in making money. My club and its supporters deserve better than this, the sooner Donald and co. leave, the better.

Dave Hall

Ed’s Note [Alex]: It’s more than highly likely that Stewart Donald, Charlie Methven and co. didn’t plan on holding onto Sunderland any longer than the first season. Had they have overseen the club in its return to the Championship at the first time of asking, they would’ve been in an excellent position to sell the club for a generous profit. Obviously that hasn’t been in the case, and now they’re prime targets for precisely the type of criticism you’re giving here.

I’d imagine Donald shares your belief that the sooner he sells, the better. I can’t see us making any progress under this current regime and that stagnation will be felt significantly, for different reasons, by both the fanbase and the ownership. It may well now be the case of seeing whether or not a sale can be negotiated.