Sunderland Slump Should Set The Alarm Bells Ringing

Sunderland have won just one league game out of 12, while the Black Cats' only victory in their last nine matches was the 3-0 home win over non-league Barrow in the Third Round of the FA Cup.

Now you see why I believe they are moving towards the brink of the precipice. They aren't quite at the edge yet, but an FA Cup exit at Portsmouth next weekend, followed by another Premier League away defeat at Everton four days later and the home game against Stoke is suddenly a must win.

I am not in anyway advocating that Bruce pays for the slump with his job. Managers are never given enough time, in my opinion, and I don't believe Sunderland are in danger of going down because of their home form, but there is something going wrong at the Stadium of Light.

It's difficult to put your finger on exactly why their form has been so poor over the last three months, but I'm not entirely sure it is the happiest of dressing rooms at the moment and Bruce has made some blunders in the transfer market, as well as some good signings.

No argument with the signings of Darren Bent, Lee Cattermole or Lorik Cana, but John Mensah is rarely fit, Paulo Da Silva looks average and Fraizer Campbell is struggling to get a game and still looks raw at the top level.

Then there are the outgoings. Danny Collins should never have been off loaded to Stoke and either Grant Leadbitter or Teemu Tainio should have been kept in the squad.

Yes, there are injuries and suspensions at the moment and a fair few of them, but it's not the worst I've seen at a football club in my time.

Sunderland have looked short on numbers in defence and midfield. Collins can play across the back four, and Teemu and Leadbitter are quite capable of doing a job in the top flight.

Let's face it, if either of those two had played at Chelsea last weekend, Sunderland still wouldn't have avoided defeat, but it is the results before the trip to Stamford Bridge which are worrying.

When you add that to the blundering over Kenwyne Jones' future at the start of the transfer window, this is an uncomfortable time for Sunderland fans and a manager who knows there are big weaknesses in the squad he controls.

It was pointed out to me over the weekend that Newcastle United had 23 points after 21 games last season and we all know what happened to them - and this is precisely the same number as Sunderland have at the same stage of this season.

Alarm bells should be ringing and they can't be knocked on to snooze. Bruce has said he is reluctant to sign players at this stage of the season but he clearly needs to.

Whether he can get the right ones remains to be seen, but these are testing times and he could lose a lot of the goodwill he built up at the start of his Sunderland reign.

An FA Cup run would help ease the frustration and disillusionment so I hope the Wearsiders return from Pompey on Saturday night with their name in the hat for the Fifth Round and we can forget about their league woes for a while.

Add a couple of new signings to a cup victory and the grey clouds might just lift enough to suggest brighter days are just around the corner. Either that or we had better brace ourselves for a storm.