IF Martin O'Neill was in any doubt about the size of the task he has inherited at the Stadium of Light, it will surely have been dispelled by the events that unfolded in front of him yesterday.

Forget the scaffolding that currently encases the Stan Cullis Stand at Molineux, Sunderland's new manager has inherited a sizeable rebuilding job of his own. And while Wolves are confident their reconstructive surgery will be finished by the start of next season, O'Neill will have to make significant progress with his own project before the end of the current campaign.

When he officially takes up his new post this morning, the Northern Irishman will preside over a side who have dropped to within a point of the relegation zone following yet another defeat that was somehow plucked from the jaws of victory.

For the second time in the space of eight days, Sunderland contrived to turn a 1-0 lead into a 2-1 loss despite facing a side that started the day below them in the Premier League table.

As was the case against Wigan, they crumbled as soon as their opponents began to generate a semblance of self-belief.

And as has been the situation so often this season, they finished a bedraggled bunch, devoid of confidence, energy and organisation. If he hadn't already signed a three-year contract on Saturday morning, O'Neill, who watched yesterday's game from the front row of the Molineux directors' box, could have been hastily inserting a get-out clause. Boyhood fan or no boyhood fan, this is not going to be easy.

There has been a Jekyll-and-Hyde element to Sunderland's play all season, with the Wearsiders appearing accomplished in patches only to undo all of their good work in the latter stages of games.

Even by their own standards, though, the madcap ten minutes that turned yesterday's game on its head were a spectacular display of self-destruction.

Leading through a superbly-worked strike from Kieran Richardson, the Black Cats looked like claiming only their third success of the season when referee Phil Dowd adjudged that former Sunderland defender Jody Craddock had fouled Seb Larsson in the area, despite any contact appearing to be minimal at best.

Standing over his spot-kick with less than 20 minutes left, Larsson had an opportunity to effectively settle things. Perhaps predictably, given the extent of Sunderland's travails this season, he missed, and less than ten minutes later, Wolves were celebrating the kind of turnaround that has befallen the Black Cats on far too many occasions already.

The home side's equaliser was an immediate response to Wayne Hennessey's penalty save, coming within a minute of Larsson aiming his side-footed shot too close to the Wolves goalkeeper.

Matt Jarvis crossed from the left, and Steven Fletcher evaded a previously reliable Wes Brown to direct a six-yard header past an exposed Keiren Westwood.

That caused the onlooking O'Neill to shake his head in exasperation, but the Northern Irishman's reaction to Fletcher's 81st-minute winner will surely have been a combination of anger and disbelief.

Yes, Jamie O'Hara appeared to control Adam Hammill's cross with his arm, an offence that went unpunished, but the entire Sunderland back four stood like statues as Fletcher swivelled in the area before drilling home a powerful half-volley.

The result was a goal that condemned the Black Cats to their third defeat in the last four games, even though they had been marginally the better side for the opening hour of a match that was low on quality but ultimately high in late drama.

Their weaknesses were clear to see, with a limited goal threat and a general lack of midfield creativity placing a huge amount of pressure on a defence that is not yet reliable enough to repel opposition attacks for the whole of a game.

Despite enjoying plenty of possession, Sunderland didn't really look like scoring before Richardson broke the deadlock seven minutes into the second half. Larsson wasted a succession of decent crossing opportunities from the right, and neither Nicklas Bendtner nor Ji Dong-won got any change out of a rugged Wolves defence.

Ji has waited more than three months for his first Sunderland start, but it finally came yesterday as caretaker manager Eric Black at least attempted to display some of the adventure that was demanded of his predecessor, Steve Bruce.

On the evidence of the South Korean's showing, however, it is tempting to claim that his first Premier League start could also be his last. The onlooking O'Neill certainly saw little to convince him that the 20-year-old is ready for the demands of Premier League football, and it remains hard to fathom why Bruce felt compelled to shell out £2m for his services this summer.

A skewed 38th-minute shot that flew harmlessly wide of the target was symptomatic of an utterly underwhelming display.

Sunderland's best chance before the break saw a back-pedalling Stephen Ward clear Stephane Sessegnon's 42nd-minute effort off the line, but having failed to test Wayne Hennessey at all before the break, the visitors broke the deadlock in emphatic fashion at the start of the second half.

A Wolves corner broke down in the Black Cats' penalty area, and within less than ten seconds the ball was in the net at the other end of the pitch.

Lee Cattermole's raking long ball was the catalyst, with the skipper picking out Bendtner, who nonchalantly back-heeled the ball into Sessegnon's path.

Sessegnon timed his own pass to perfection, teeing up the overlapping Richardson, and without breaking stride, the full-back lashed home a searing first-time effort.

In truth, it was a flowing move completely out of keeping with the more prosaic fare that dominated matters on either side of it, but it was the signal for a frantic finale.

Larsson's penalty miss was perhaps a fair result given the Swede's exaggerated fall to win the spot-kick decision, and it did not take long for the full effect of the failure to become clear. O'Neill's first task is to ensure that such collapses do not continue to occur in the future.