Bailey Wright has said that the players are responsible for Phil Parkinson losing his job as Sunderland manager.

The Black Cats took the decision to sack the boss after going on a run of five games without a victory in all competitions.

Expectations are high at the Stadium Of Light this term with the club looking to secure promotion to the Championship at the third time of asking, and that's why the decision was made to remove Parkinson from his position.

But discussing his sacking, Wright says that his fate is at least partially down to the players underperforming.

Speaking to the Sunderland Echo, Wright said: "Obviously it was a bit of surprise and shock.
"I enjoyed working with the gaffer, he brought me to the club and gave me an opportunity to play my football at this great club. I owe that to him really.
"I'm gutted to see him go, but for myself there's still a job to do. We've still got our goals that we've set ourselves from the start of the season, nothing changes.
"As everyone says, this is football, this is the industry and things can change that are out of our control."
He added: "As a player, you feel responsible.
"When a manager loses his job it's because results haven't been at the expected level of those above, so you feel partly responsible for that, of course you do.
"We have a responsibility to go and win games and we go out there to try and do that. We've got a good, honest bunch who enjoyed working with the gaffer and obviously we're disappointed to see him go.
"But we've got a job we've still got to do here and we're very much focused on that and excited about that.
"We've got massive respect for the gaffer and disappointed to see him leave, but this is the nature of the industry we're in. It's fast-paced and you just have to be ready for anything.
"So for us, as players, we're focused on our end goal and are taking each game as it comes. We just have to crack on and maintain what we're trying to do - which is get promoted.”

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The Verdict

It's refreshing to hear Bailey Wright speak with such honesty on the topic.

While the manager of a football club is always going to be the person to take the weight of responsibility, it's ultimately up to the 11 players on the pitch to carry out his instructions.

I'm not claiming that Phil Parkinson is blameless at all, but it bodes well for Sunderland that they have players who are taking responsibility as that's what will be needed to get the club on track.