Same old story for Sunderland this year as another manager cannot survive the full campaign and the Black Cats barely avoid relegation.
Sunderland entered this season with Gus Poyet as their manager after he guided them to arguably the greatest escape in Premier League history the season before after taking over from Paulo di Canio nine games in as well as taking them to a first Cup final in 22 years in the Capital One Cup.
This was actually a record breaking season for Sunderland but for all the wrong reasons as they recorded a tally of 17 draws, the most in a 38 game Premier League season with most of them being goal-less draws, nine of them which is in-fact another record in itself. These stalemates came mainly early in the campaign as they drew eight of their first 13 in the league, which somewhat clouded over the fact they only won two of those games with their first victory not coming untill the start of October when they beat Stoke City 3-1 at home.
The Mackems only won three league games in the 2014 part of the season, the last of those being one of their high points as they beat local rivals Newcastle United 1-0 for the fourth time in a row, the first time they've ever done that in the history of the fixture thanks to Adam Johnson's last-minute strike.
January brought new optimism for fans on Wearside as the club spent big to bring Jermain Defoe back to the Premier League after just a year with MLS side Toronto FC. He quickly bagged his first goal at the end of the month in a 2-0 home win over relegation rivals Burnley which tempararily eased the pressure on manager Poyet.
The Wearsiders would not win again under the former Brighton manager though as after failures to beat the likes of Hull City, Queen's Park Rangers and West Brom in the league along with the embarrasing FA Cup fifth round defeat at Bradford, Poyet lost his job with the 4-0 home defeat to Aston Villa being the knockout blow.
Once again, Sunderland needed a short-term saviour as they sat just above the drop zone with nine games to play. Another suprise then awaited as 68-year-old Dutchman Dick Advocaat answered the call to save Sunderland. Then just like the two men who proceeded him, Advocaat had a Tyne Wear Derby to contend with in his second game in charge coming against Newcastle and just like di Canio and Poyet, he won the match with Jermain Defoe producing one of the goals of the season to secure a 1-0 win at the Stadium Of Light.
Wearside was then brought back down to earth a week later as numerous individual errors led to a 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace. ''Big Dick'' as he would be christened by the fans, riled the players up after that though as Sunderland went on a five-game unbeaten run with wins over Southampton and Everton as well as a challenging goal-less draw away at Arsenal securing safety with a game to spare.
Advocaat was given the chance to stay on as head coach, but unfortunately for the Black Cats, he turned it down - meaning he wants to retire from the sport. As a result, Sunderland will be looking for a new manager again yet again, next season.
Low points
Only one place to start really and that's the 8-0 humbling they suffered at the hands of Southampton in October with Santiago Vergini's comic own goal opening the scoring at St Mary's.
Next is the day after Christmas as just five days after winning the Derby, Adam Johnson gives Sunderland a first minute lead at home to Hull City only for the Black Cats to capitulate to a 3-1 home defeat.
The last one again is an obvious choice as Aston Villa score four in the first-half at the Stadium Of Light as Gus Poyet seemed to have lost his way at Sunderland and ultimately the Sunderland board agrees and gives him the sack.
High points
Doing the double over Newcastle for the second succesive season has to be up their for the fans definitely with the drama of the first win and the unbelievable goal from Defoe for the second.
Sealing survival with the 0-0 draw at Arsenal is the only real other pick as Sunderland put in arguably one of the best defensive performances in Premier League history while also having chances themselves to win, Dick Advocaat's tears at the final whistle is the lasting moment though.
Key Players
Lee Cattermole is the first pick as he was the main driving force behind the teams run under Advocaat as he led from the front in protecting his defence and playing some fine passes in midfield along with a spectacular goal on the opening day against West Brom.
Costel Pantillimon in goal is next, after starting the season as back-up for Italian 'keeper Vito Mannone the former Manchester City man got his chance following the Southampton shambles and after impressing in the 3-1 win at Crystal Palace on his debut, he never looked back with great saves in the away Derby win as well as a crucial Man of the Match display against both Everton and Arsenal away at the end of the season.
Poor Players
Jordi Gomez is the first under the spotlight as he really went missing in some of the woeful displays under Poyet after being signed on a free transfer from Wigan Athletic in the summer. However the Spanish creative midfielder put in some decent displays after Advocat arrived at the club and held his nerve to score two penalties against Southampton.
Connor Wickham is the next pick which might seem a bit of a surprise considering he was Sunderland's top scorer but he only netted five times. Wickham is clearly a player with ability but his work-rate is not always the best and you sometimes have to remind yourself that he's six foot five inches.
Things to do for next season:
Find a new manger is the first step but hopefully someone who can bring some stability to a club who cannot stop going through various bosses.
Bring in someone who can create chances in midfield with Sebastian Larsson and Lee Cattermole not really able to do this and Jermain Defoe needing service.
Get some fresh, younger legs into the defense with John O'Shea and Wes Brown not being the long-term answer for the club in the backline.