Assessing Sunderland's chances of avoiding the drop

Following Sunderland's 4-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, the club is languishing in 19th place, some four points adrift of safety.

It has been quite the damp squib since Dick Advocaat presided over a great escape from relegation last term. The Dutchman was encouraged to continue at the helm despite initially voicing his intention to retire, and lasted just eight matches of this campaign with three points from eight matches.

While the record under his replacement Sam Allardyce has been more commendable, Sunderland is still in trouble. Do the Black Cats have what it takes to claw their way away from the relegation places?

The players

For the sake of Sunderland fans, you hope that the club continues to be active in the January transfer window.

It is no surprise full-backs Patrick van Aanholt, DeAndre Yedlin, and the admittedly slow Billy Jones have been handed more freedom to charge forward since Allardyce took the helm. Ahead of them in midfield - with the exception of Adam Johnson and youngster Duncan Watmore, who has been used sparingly - it's hard to see another player who could run a bath, let alone run the flanks.

There is no real grip in the centre of midfield either. The best work has come from Yann M'Vila, albeit alongside the erratic Lee Cattermole or Jack Rodwell, who looks shaken after not making the grade at Manchester City and a nightmare spate of injuries.

Overall, there isn't a great deal of creativity or penetration behind the strikers, and out of a strikeforce of Ola Toivonen, Danny Graham, Fabio Borini, Steven Fletcher, and Jermain Defoe, only the latter has the knack of regularly feeding on scraps.

In defence, new signing Jan Kirchhoff was a guilty party in the 4-1 defeat at Spurs. While it is unfair to lay blame on the German defender for Christian Eriksen's shot ballooning off him and beyond Jordan Pickford for the third, his tackle on Danny Rose that resulted in Harry Kane's converted penalty was very late and highlighted his lack of match practice.

Kirchhoff and loanee striker Dame N'Doye, who hasn't scored a league goal since April, aren't enough to right Sunderland's position in the table.

To see a list of completed deals in the January window thus far, visit theScore's Premier League transfer tracker.

The manager

Sam Allardyce was a fantastic appointment.

Cumulatively, the Dudley native has just under 12 seasons of experience in the Premier League with an average of 49 points a season - always enough to secure a spot in mid-table. He was a hire that left bottom-placed Aston Villa's choice of Remi Garde, with his questionable experience as an Arsenal reserve in the 1990s, in the shade.

He may have lost some fans due to his over-confidence - like claiming he's "more suited" to a role at the likes of Inter Milan or Real Madrid while in the Blackburn job, for example - and become a figure of fun for some, but there is no doubting his record in gaining stability at usually unsteady clubs.

Aware that this could be the biggest task of his managerial career, Allardyce sought assurances before taking the role. Rather than working alongside a director who calls the shots in the transfer market - a system which was the brainchild of chairman Ellis Short and has ultimately been a failure at Sunderland - Allardyce insisted on full control of players' comings and goings.

Sporting director Lee Congerton was promptly placed on gardening leave, with Allardyce left to identify transfer targets and oversee every process until contract negotiations, which are left to chief executive Margaret Byrne and club secretary Ryan Sachs.

His dedication to the job cannot be called into question, and his propensity to win at all costs is exactly what's needed while the Black Cats are steeped in the relegation mire.

So does Sunderland have a chance?

In a season as unpredictable as this one, it would be foolish to write off Sunderland; Leicester City was seven points adrift with nine games remaining last term, while Sunderland has 16 games to sort out a four-point deficit.

There are concerns though. Concerns that local rival and fellow struggler Newcastle United has bought well and will easily secure its top-flight status. Concerns that with the signing of Timm Klose and seemingly inevitable purchase of Steven Naismith, Norwich City will also avoid the drop. Concerns that the tactically astute Francesco Guidolin will oversee a resurgence at Swansea.

At this moment, Sunderland could be left behind. A case of right manager, but mostly the wrong players.