Sunderland AFC feels like a circus at the moment.

It’s a mood that supporters have become accustomed to in the last four to five years but things have arguably never been as unclear as they are now.

Not only is Stewart Donald locked in negotiations to sell the club, but he’s now having to find a new manager for Sunderland too.

Earlier this week they sacked Phil Parkinson after a run of three straight league games without winning. Given the Black Cats are just six points off top spot you can consider it pretty harsh. Though, truth be told, the football was stale and the performances were unlikely to improve.

A host of replacements have been touted from Danny Cowley and Gus Poyet but the one candidate we’re going to focus on is Paul Cook, someone described as “charismatic” by Chelsea boss Frank Lampard.

The former Wigan manager got the Latics out of League One and did so working under a pretty strict budget. Already that should be an impressive quality for Donald to get excited about when assessing his CV.

After all, this Sunderland side are right on the verge of the EFL’s salary cap so Cook won’t exactly have too much to spend.

And, providing he can get the most out his players, he won’t need to. Specifically, we’re talking about Will Grigg, someone whose transfer to the Stadium of Light has been nothing short of shambolic.

Sunderland needed a striker on deadline day in the winter window in 2019 but Donald couldn’t secure one – that was until he decided to pay a fee of £4m for Grigg.

Since walking through the doors he has scored just eight times, so it’s safe to say that Grigg, in this instance, is definitely not on fire.

However, under someone like Cook, he could rediscover himself and fire the Mackems to promotion. Why? Because they already have a superb understanding of each other.

In the 2017/18 season, Grigg played under Cook at Wigan and racked up a tally of 26 goals in 54 outings – 19 of which came in League One.

Since heading to the north-east, the striker has looked dejected and demoralised. That’s something that could change if Cook comes to the club.

Speaking after he sold Grigg to Sunderland in 2019, he said: “This football club will be here forever, and Will Grigg will forever be a part of its history.

“He’s an absolute diamond of a bloke and he’ll always be welcomed back here.”

It would be great to see their relationship reunited if Cook was appointed at the Stadium of Light.

If he can get Grigg firing in the goals again, that £4m will look like peanuts.

Meanwhile, Sunderland would be playing with fire by hiring this man as their sporting director...