Former Sunderland boss Gus Poyet believes that something needs to be changed at the top for the Wearside club to return to top form.

The Black Cats have seen eight managers come and go since the departure of Roy Keane in 2008, and Poyet believes the problems run much deeper than just the managers.

"Now there is (another) manager leaving and it is a little bit too many," said Poyet, who was speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit.

"So I think it is clear now that it is not the manager. Sometimes when a team is not working you change the manager and things go well and you can say 'Good decision', but when it happens four or five times, come on, be realistic.

"I don't think you can blame Martin O'Neill, Paolo Di Canio, Gus Poyet and Dick Advocaat. There is something that is not working there. If I knew what it was I would call the chairman tomorrow but I don't. Fortunately it is not my job.

"But they have to look somewhere else. They need to find where to look. They need to take an appointment and stick with it whatever results come in the next two or three years."