• Ross’s contract terminated after 17 months in charge• Chairman Stewart Donald: decision ‘made with a heavy heart’Sunderland’s desperation to escape League One has led to the dismissal of their manager, Jack Ross. The 43-year-old Scot had been on borrowed time at the Stadium of Light after failing to win promotion last spring and when the team suffered its second defeat of the season at Lincoln on Saturday his fate seemed all but sealed.
It was the 10th loss suffered by Ross in 75 games in charge on Wearside and left Sunderland sixth in the table, eight points behind the leaders, Ipswich, but Stewart Donald, the club’s owner, expected more from a manager in charge of the third tier’s largest budget.