Moyes brushes off sack talk after Sunderland chairman makes rare visit
Did the Grim Reaper assume the form of private equity fund magnate Ellis Short on Wearside this weekend?
David Moyes has played down suggestions that he could be set for the axe at Sunderland after the club's chairman attended his first match at the Stadium of Light since August, a drab 0-0 affair which seemed to send his wife Eve to sleep, according to The Telegraph's Luke Edwards.
Saturday's draw with Burnley meant the Black Cats are still seven points short of safety in the Premier League with 10 matches to go, and have won just one match - a 4-0 at Crystal Palace which may be dubbed a "freak result" by the end of the season - since the start of 2017.
"I spoke to (Short) today. I suppose if you own a football club you are entitled to come and watch it - he is allowed to do that. I saw him this morning and he is entitled to come along but it is all good," Moyes told PA Sport.
Billy Jones somehow managed to not convert a header with the goal at his mercy, and Sebastian Larsson and Adnan Januzaj also missed costly chances in Sunderland. With the improvements seen at Swansea City and Hull City since the respective appointments of Paul Clement and Marco Silva, and Middlesbrough's recent sacking of Aitor Karanka, Short could be tempted to seek a new manager bounce of his own with a change at the helm.
Moyes confesses the latest showing wouldn't have been an enthralling watch for Short.
"It was not the prettiest but we had more opportunities than we've had in recent games. I think we made more chances today than we did against Palace, where we had four chances and scored everything we hit," said Moyes.
"It's not for want of trying - we've got nearly every forward player we've got on the pitch and if a couple of those opportunities had fallen for Jermain (Defoe), that might have helped.
"But we need others to score, not just Jermain, and today was an opportunity for them to do that. I think the players to a man have done everything they could to try and get a result.''
Sunderland now looks to regroup over the international break after yet another setback to its battle for safety. It returns on April 1 with a trip to Watford.