Sunderland stand on the brink of relegation to English football’s third tier and one exiled player is blaming David Moyes for his part in their demise.
Sunderland are second bottom of the Championship and eight points off safety with six games remaining.
Barring a miraculous turnaround the Black Cats look all but doomed to a second successive relegation.
It is a sad state of affairs for the well supported North East club but one that has been on the cards for several years.
However, exiled Sunderland flop Wahbi Khazri it could have been avoided had David Moyes used him more during the club’s Premier League struggles last season.
Khazri has orchestrated Rennes’ Europa League charge during a fine loan spell in France from the Black Cats.
And he has hit out at West Ham United boss Moyes in an interview with L’Equipe.
“He (Moyes) didn’t trust me,” Khazri told L’Equipe.
“I wasn’t in his plans but the fact that we finished with 24 points tells you about him.
“He just did not like my style of play, it happens. If you do not change a winning team, you won’t change a losing team. I’m not saying that I would have changed the club on my own but I could have helped the team.”
Whether Khazri could have made the difference and helped keep Sunderland up for another season we will never know.
But it is telling that he still blames Moyes for the club’s plight last season.
Moyes swapped one relegation battle for another when he took the Hammers job back in November and looks on course to secure survival in a hugely congested Premier League table.
Perhaps the Scot could foresee the problems looming at Sunderland this season after walking out on the club during the summer and perhaps as Khazri suggests he just didn’t have the nous to turn things around.
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