Sunderland would have felt slightly relieved at the prospect of an international break, taking some time out from their current dire standing in the Championship to assess what's truly made the wheels come off at the Stadium of Light.
A long list of injuries certainly hasn't helped Mike Dodds back in the interim hot-seat on Wearside, with the likes of 15-goal star Jack Clarke being absent really putting a spanner in the works.
At least the Black Cats can take some mild comfort in the fact that they do look safe from the second tier drop-zone, although it's still a dramatic drop-off for a side once chasing promotion as a wild dream.
It's not been quite as hard to watch as Sunderland's 2016-17 season however, where a number of expected top talents – including one forgotten flop – consistently waved the white flag under the doomed tenure of David Moyes that saw relegation down to the Championship confirmed.
Jeremain Lens' record at Sunderland
One-time Sunderland dud Jeremain Lens would only make two appearances that season, shipped out on loan to the likes of Fenerbahce and Besiktas over the following years to try and get him off the roster after a disastrous first campaign.
The Dutch winger would end up making just 24 appearances for the Black Cats before leaving for Turkey permanently in 2018, with the Wearside outfit left to rue the decision to fork out a substantial £8m on his services.
Starring with Dynamo Kyiv before relocating to England, it was a move that just never worked for Lens under Dick Advocaat – the now 36-year-old only managing to pick up four goals and three assists before being swiftly moved on.
Now, the move looks even more like a colossal waste of money when you consider how much Lens' transfer value has dropped since his ill-fated stint at the Stadium of Light.
Plying his trade in the French third division now, the veteran attacker comes in at being worth less than Black Cats reserve man Bradley Dack even whilst the former Blackburn Rovers midfielder remains a permanent fixture in the Sunderland treatment room.
Jeremain Lens' transfer value in 2024
According to Football Transfers, whilst playing for FC Versailles 78 as of December last year, Lens' transfer value had decreased all the way down to a meagre €200k (£171k) as the Dutchman begins to see out his extensive career in France.
That's some way off the £8m that the Black Cats once paid to land the ex-PSV Eindhoven man in his prime, only for his time with Sunderland to not go to plan.
Remarkably, Dack – who hasn't played in the league for Sunderland at all in 2024 so far – comes in at being worth €0.4M (£343k), which sees him boast the tag of being a more valuable asset than Lens.
That's the case even with Lens blowing off the cobwebs playing for Versailles, firing in nine goals from 35 appearances for his current employers even whilst his career winds down.
Staggeringly, Dack isn't the only Sunderland flop that boasts a higher transfer value than Lens currently with Luis Semedo – who is yet to score a single first-team Sunderland goal since joining as a highly regarded youngster – coming in as being worth €0.4m (£343k) as well.
1. Corry Evans
€0.2m (£171k)
2. Nathan Bishop
€0.2m (£171k)
3. Ellis Taylor
€0.2m (£171k)
4. Bradley Dack
€0.4m (£343k)
5. Luis Semedo
€0.4m (£343k)
Scanning over this table above, the ex-Sunderland dud would even be the least valued member of the current Black Cats camp if he did make a return to Wearside soil.
Lens will just want to continue playing for as long as he can before calling time on his playing days however, with his torrid spell at the Stadium of Light not one he'll ever look back on with fond memories.