It's been a tough start for Phil Parkinson at Sunderland, but the board of directors are encouraged by what they have seen so far.
Parkinson has managed to two wins from his six in charge, but they were somewhat unfortunate in away games at Wycombe, Shrewsbury and Oxford, as the new manager implements a far more attacking style than his predecessor Jack Ross.
And with victory over Southend United on Saturday closing the gap on the Black Cats and the automatic promotion places, Charlie Methven says those in the boardroom are encouraged.
"It's one thing being beaten fair and square. But quite another when you feel that the Gods are conspiring against you," executive director Methven said.
"In the last three away matches Sunderland have hit the woodwork no few than six times. In those three games our opponents haven't hit a post or crossbar once, and indeed have scored one goal each from a total of around six chances over 270 minutes of football.
"We have been denied blatant penalties, and found a bewildering number of ways not to convert an array of clear chances.
"However, as the hours and days pass and the immediate sulk gradually lifts, the board is encouraged by the improvement in the level of performance."
During a talk with a supporters' branch recently, Methven revealed he takes a lot of notice in statistics in relation to the club's performances.
He revealed he was very interested in the new expected goals model, which looks at how many times a team are entering a dangerous position in the field to show how many times a team should score in a game, based on the territory they occupy.
And he also admitted that last season he was concerned by those numbers which didn't show Sunderland around the top two in the division for those stats.
But with things improving under Parkinson and 15 or more chances created in the four games prior to Tuesday's EFL Trophy defeat to Leicester, Methven feels Sunderland are heading in the right direction under Parkinson.
He continued: "Just as we feel slightly uneasy when winning matches despite not really deserving to, knowing that good luck always turns in the end, so conversely when the opposite is true, we have every reason to stay positive.
"With just a little rub of the green, performing like we have been in the last few games [prior to Leicester U21s] will lead to better results.
"It is up to the players and coaching staff to keep plugging away, and to the rest of us to clear our heads and give them every support, The effort levels on the pitch at the moment are prodigious and they will surely be rewarded if that continues.
"The top half of this league is tight, and - as the travails of Ipswich in recent weeks have showed - it's far from clear that any team is going to run away with the league.
"So if we start to get the results that recent performances have merited then we will surely start to rise up the table fairly swiftly."
Sunderland have FA Cup action to consider this weekend when they entertain Gillingham, and won't return to league action until November 23 when Coventry travel to the North East, with the scheduled visit to Bristol Rovers postponed due to international call-ups.
