Paddy Davitt delivers his Sunderland verdict after Norwich City’s latest Championship defeat.

1. End of the line

A seventh league defeat in the last 10 Championship games. Kenny McLean at centre back. Ben Gibson hauled off.

Shane Duffy losing the ball on the edge of his own box in the phase of play that gifted Sunderland a third from the penalty spot. Another rank individual error from a senior player.

Even David Wagner setting up to contain from the start, with Adam Forshaw ostensibly slotted into a stodgy midfield five from the off.

The game is up. This head coach has run out of ideas and inspiration.

Norwich look bereft of confidence. For 15 minutes immediately after the interval they could barely get outside their own defensive third. No energy, no urgency despite trailing at the break. This after Hwang Ui-Jo had slotted them in front midway through the opening period.

But even a lead to protect is not enough motivation for this group, under a head coach who came in on a ticket of ‘full throttle’ football.

The engine has long since stalled, and too many parts are in need of replacement. Which would seemingly include the chief mechanic.

Wagner said any decision on his future is for others. But he looked a beaten man in his post-match media.

Should he remain in charge there is a symmetry to Blackburn next up at Carrow Road. Wagner’s first outing after Dean Smith was eventually dismissed was an FA Cup defeat on home soil.

Which itself came after a toxic reaction to Smith from large swathes of the home support after Rovers had won in the league in December. Blackburn may be a pivotal signpost in yet another City managerial change.

2. Circle the wagons

It is not just Wagner’s deeds but his words that are now subject to heightened scrutiny. Labelling this an ‘okay’ performance before he trooped away from Sunderland subjected to him a fresh wave of criticism on social media.

This after a wave of sharp rebukes on the same platforms for his pre-match assessment of Norwich’s losing cycle.

“We had five game or seven games without a win in a Championship season at Huddersfield. I think this is something what happens quite regularly to be fair, more or less to every team. Then the question is how you deal with the situation? Will you get driven away by the noise? Will you stay together, stick together and believe in each other?

“This is the same in England and Germany and Switzerland. Yes, it is a difficult period. Yes, we are not as good as we were at the beginning but there was a reason why were as good at the beginning and they are reasons why we are not at the minute able to find the solutions.”

At face value few would disagree with those words or the sentiment. Sunderland went into this game on the back of three consecutive defeats. Middlesbrough went seven without a win before a seventh consecutive victory at Norwich’s expense.

It might prove academic now in the final analysis, if the mood in the Norwich boardroom reflects that of a growing body of their fan base.

But reading the room is also a key attribute in such a febrile period when the Canaries have fallen so far short of their own stated expectations.­

3. Damning

Try and detach yourself from the frustration and the heightened emotion as the season heads south, after a genuinely uplifting start from Norwich City, and there is one faultline running through this decline.

Wagner and his coaches have been unable to source an effective remedy for injured duo Josh Sargent and Ashley Barnes.

It is less about replacing the goal threat, primarily from the American who before his ankle injury at Huddersfield had three in his opening four league games, and more about the defensive deficit and structural issues in transition.

Norwich have been too open and too easy to create chances against. With Sargent and Barnes they had a forward press that not only disrupted but offered a platform to build and relieve pressure. Neither Adam Idah or Hwang, as individuals or as a pair, come anywhere close.

They are a different profile of forward player. In the eight games since Barnes joined Sargent on the sidelines, Norwich have won once.

Hwang got the nod for his fourth league start since a January deadline day move from Nottingham Forest and marked it with a fine close range finish to open his account.

But the South Korean had little in the way of support, with Wagner opting to pack his midfield with the inclusion of Forshaw and then Marcelino Nunez at the interval.

That inability to replace what Barnes and Sargent offered in defensive transitions has dragged City into the Championship mire. It is the biggest indictment of the German’s coaching in this prolonged downturn.

4. Clap for Kellen

There was a positive. Just about. To give you an idea of the football climb Kellen Fisher has been on, this weekend last season he was not even part of Bromley’s National League squad. It took until Boxing Day for him to begin a run that ended in a tilt at the Football League play-offs, and catching the eye of a clutch of clubs including Norwich.

Fast forward 12 months and he is lining up for his first Championship appearance against the division’s eight-goal top scorer at kick-off, Jack Clarke. Quite the elevation and quite the show of faith from Wagner. We should not be surprised.

Wagner’s decision to sanction Bali Mumba’s Plymouth move was in part due to the ease with which Fisher had grabbed his chance in a first team environment during pre-season.

There had been some eye-catching League Cup cameos – the assist for Jon Rowe’s winner at QPR in that competition and a tussle against former Premier League winner Willian at Fulham that again underlined his maturity and his temperament. But this was the real thing with points at stake and first choice Jack Stacey demoted to the bench.

A nervy header behind to concede a needless early corner could be excused. Then later in the first half he tried to jump out of the defensive line, leaving the excellent Clarke to clip a shot against the post.

But the teenager is made of stern stuff. That much has been evident in his previous first team exposure.

He raced past Gabby Sara to pick out Hwang to put Norwich in front. Nor he did not look out of place in a side packed with experienced operators who are capable of better under the right guidance.

Whatever the future looks like in the short to mid term at Carrow Road, Fisher is a big part of it.