Chris Dunlavy
A FRESH TAKE ON FOOTBALL
ELLIS Short has been about as beneficial to the city of Sunderland as austerity, shipyard closures and Alan Shearer.
Banners around the Stadium of Light attest to that. So do vast tracts of empty red seats. Internet forums bubble with bile.
The man from Missouri bought the club in 2008, promising regular top-ten finishes in the Premier League. He spoke about earning the “respect” of opponents. Of making Sunderland’s windswept fortress a place to fear.
Nine years on, it is merely a half-empty hulk of discontent an...