It has been a rocky start to life at the Stadium of Light for Phil Parkinson, who has lost four of his opening six games in charge.
It was always going to be an uphill battle for the 52-year-old, who was far from first choice for many Sunderland fans, but his shaky start will have done him no favours.
His two wins, over Tranmere Rovers and Southend United, were both closely followed by disappointing and momentum-halting losses.
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The most recent, to the Leicester City U21s in the EFL Trophy, drew some significant criticism from fans of the North East club–with many suggesting that his days were numbered already.
The obvious aim for the Black Cats is promotion back to the Championship this season and Parkinson has some great experience to lean on–having done it three times with other clubs.
Despite their underwhelming start to the season, Sunderland remain just one point and one place outside the play-off places, though I'm sure after last season's play-off final disappointment they will be determined to finish in the top two.
Parkinson will no doubt be hoping to bolster his resources in January to help him get the Black Cats back to the second flight of English football.
With the turn of the year less than two months away, we've broken down the three-point plan the English coach should have heading into the transfer window.
Bring back Ethan Robson.
Sunderland's loss to the Foxes on Tuesday night revealed a midfield bereft of energy and dynamism as Grant Leadbitter and Dylan McGeouch underwhelmed and were given the run around by their opponents.
If extra dynamism is what Parkinson is after then he should look to bring back Robson from his loan at Grimsby Town.
The 23-year-old has been extremely impressive for the Mariners, scoring three goals and providing one assist in seven appearances, as well as being nominated for PFA Fans' League Two Player of the Month.
Robson would complement Parkinson's current first-choice options, Max Power and George Dobson, well and could be a useful weapon to have in the second half of the campaign.
Offload McGeouch.
The 26-year-old's career has never really taken off at the Stadium of Light, despite the persistence of Jack Ross.
McGeouch signed in July 2018 and has made 41 appearances for the club in total but has failed to have a real impact on the first team.
It was telling that he had not featured under Parkinson prior to Tuesday's 2-1 loss and you'd imagine that he is unlikely to appear again.
McGeouch squandered his opportunity to impress and looked off the pace completely, struggling to have any influence on the game.
It's time for Parkinson to offload him and his exit may provide the Black Cats with a little bit of extra financial flexibility to improve the squad.
Sign a new striker.
Parkinson's three current options, Will Grigg, Marc McNulty, and Charlie Wyke, have scored just four league goals between them this season, which leaves you to wonder how different Sunderland's league position could be if they had an in-form forward.
Adding a prolific striker could give their promotion a huge boost and has to be high on the Black Cats boss' list of priorities.