Of all the indignities heaped on Sunderland boss David Moyes this season, and there have been a few, Wednesday’s dismal defeat at Middlesbrough was perhaps the most humiliating.
For the second game running, Sunderland supporters called for their manager’s head, chanting “We want Moyesie out” during another insipid performance which moved their side ever closer towards relegation.
The Black Cats will be playing Championship football next season, so should Moyes, having failed to inspire his team this term, be allowed to continue in the Stadium of Light hot-seat?
Sunderland fans are certainly growing sick of the former Preston, Everton, Manchester United and Real Sociedad boss. That much is clear from their reaction on the terraces and there is no doubt the Scot’s star has fallen badly in recent times.
When he was chosen by Sir Alex Ferguson as the man to succeed the legendary United boss in May 2013, Moyes’ stock had never been higher. He had made Everton a force to be reckoned with during an 11-year stint at Goodison Park.
"We unanimously agreed on David Moyes," said Ferguson at the time of his retirement after 26 years as United boss.
"David is a man of great integrity with a strong work ethic. I've admired his work for a long time and approached him as far back as 1998 to discuss the position of assistant manager here.
"There is no question he has all the qualities we expect of a manager at this club."
Sadly for Moyes, he lasted just 10 months at Old Trafford and was thrown out in April 2014 with the club having endured a disastrous league campaign.
He bounced back in a surprise appointment at Real Sociedad but was sacked again after exactly one year in charge, having won just 12 out of 38 games.
That did not deter Sunderland from appointing Moyes as successor to Sam Allardyce on a four-year deal.
Sunderland are a club who have grown accustomed to fighting relegation and their last seven managers have all avoided relegation from the top flight, including Allardyce with largely the same squad last season. Yet Moyes has never looked capable of keeping them up.
They have won just five games and this season has felt like a sleepwalk towards relegation. There has been a huge over-reliance on Jermain Defoe for goals and the strain has taken its toll on Moyes who has cut a tired, frustrated figure.
While Marco Silva, Paul Clement and Allardyce have all breathed new life into fellow strugglers Hull, Swansea and Crystal Palace, Moyes has struggled badly.
The verbal assault on BBC reporter Vicki Sparks was another dent in his reputation and his managerial powers appear to be on the wane. Sunderland are 12 points adrift of safety with five games remaining, and could be relegated at the weekend.
Asked if he would leave, Moyes, 54, said: "No, I'm here, I'm the manager, you take it on the chin.
"I'm a football supporter, I know what it's like. You don't like seeing your team lose.
"There is nobody who wants to win more than me. I am used to winning, I'm not used to losing and I don't want to get used to it either."
Sadly for Sunderland’s huge army of loyal supporters, losing has become a depressingly familiar outcome during Moyes’ tenure.
