The most recent meeting of the Sunderland AFC Supporters’ Collective was held on Tuesday. All season long, these gatherings with fan clubs take place at the Stadium of Light. The primary goal of these meetings is to provide top management and directors a chance to talk about every aspect of the football team.
Supporters have received updates from Kristjaan Speakman on a number of topics, such as the hunt for a new head coach and the significance of exercising patience in order to schedule the appropriate appointment. Given the lack of success during Michael Beale’s brief tenure as manager after Tony Mowbray’s resignation, this strategy is hardly shocking. There are just eight games remaining in Sunderland’s 2023–24 Championship campaign, thus Mike Dodds is likely to be in command until the end of the campaign.
Speakman verified that the club has started having conversations about finding a replacement for Beale. “We need to be together even though it’s a difficult moment, and there are players returning over the next few weeks.”
He cited Southampton’s outstanding fan base and expressed his belief that they will continue to have a positive outlook on the team. “The club consciously had a period of reflection after Michael Beale’s departure and are now engaging in meetings with prospective head coaches,” he continued while speaking about the head coach hunt. Formal interviews will follow, followed by a decision.
Speakman stated that the decision to fire Beale was heavily influenced by the play’s harsh tone. This is hardly surprising considering the numerous unsatisfactory outcomes and overall low calibre of work under his direction. “Improving the playing identity and outcomes was the goal. Michael focused on not giving up specific kinds of goals in an effort to get better, which had a detrimental effect on his style of play.
Speakman also answered questions from fans on the ongoing hiring process for our new head coach. Without a coach of his own, Beale travelled alone to Sunderland. It was confirmed that any prospective head coach would be permitted to appoint additional coaches to their staff. This seems like a smart move, and it should assist our future head coach get settled in more quickly so we can concentrate on getting results. “If there was a suitable referral, a head coach might invite an assistant coach or coaches. The team is also eager to preserve continuity and consistency throughout football operations since, like fresh ideas, contributions, and personnel, they will contribute to success.
Speakman added that the team would consider offering incentives to entice a candidate who is already working for another team to become the next head coach. He clarified that there was no assurance that the appointment would go well or that the outcomes would be favourable. This seems like a good thing as well because it will increase the pool of prospects we can approach. In our previous head coach quest, Will Still—who is currently the manager of Reims in France—was mentioned multiple times. In my opinion, I hope the team will review this in the summer and give Still a real consideration for the position. “There are just too many variables, so there was little correlation between a compensation fee and future success.” Opportunities must be realistic and reasonable, but that doesn’t mean the team won’t look for a head coach who is presently employed by another team.
Speakman also talked about our persistent striker shortage and our lacklustre goal-scoring performance this season despite adding a lot of strikers to the squad in the summer. “The club selected players for the team last summer, but they haven’t been able to consistently score goals to influence the central role.”
Personally, I believe that the inconsistent leadership of the attack each week is a major contributing factor to the issues in this area. For instance, we switch and chop between players like Mason Burstow, Nazariy Rusyn, and Luis Hemir all the time. Because each of these forwards has a different play style and set of skills, it becomes extremely difficult to build a fixed playing identity. Additionally, it hinders their ability to build momentum and confidence before games. Until the end of the season, I believe it would be prudent to give one striker a steady run of games. “Any lack of output has not resulted from a lack of effort or work on the training field,” KS continued. The team is constantly looking for methods to get better, reviewing every facet of performance, especially offensive play. This applies to the centre of the pitch as well as other locations where goal contributions have fallen short of expectations.
In this regard, I believe that if we added some offensive experience, a lot of our problems in this sector of the field would be resolved. Simply put, none of our current choices have played enough competitive football in their careers to make a significant impact on games at this level. For my part, I would be searching for a striker to sign in the summer who has previously demonstrated experience in the Championship on their resume. a player with goal experience in this division who can set a good example for others. The club also feels that they must get ready for the future because they don’t think the difficult market conditions will improve.
To put it politely, but this sounds like an excuse, in my opinion. Every club faces the same difficult market conditions, and our size, scope, and amenities should give us an advantage over many other suitors in any transfer negotiations. Mostly, I believe that hiring decisions are made more on the basis of cost effectiveness and developing a future-ready workforce than the difficulty of the job market. “The club made significant efforts to sign two forwards in January, where the associated fees were considerable,” KS continued. Unfortunately, factors beyond the club’s control, such as the individual preferences of the players and their parent clubs, prevented them from finalising these accords. As previously mentioned, one of these players was somewhat over thirty years old.
This passage alludes to Sunderland’s inability to bolster our offensive during the previous transfer window by adding Kieffer Moore. Moore then signed with Ipswich, where he is now enjoying a fruitful loan stay and consistently making a significant impact with goals. If nothing else, the obvious necessity of bringing in some experience for the team—even if it means changing the model—is at least mentioned. This was most likely caused by our unwillingness to change the current salary structure and the fact that Ipswich was vying for promotion to the Premier League.
CONCLUSION:
I consider this to be a mixed bag all around. Positives include letting the incoming head coach bring some known names with him and being willing to provide compensation for our next appointment. It should come as no surprise, though, that the model appears to be fairly set in stone. If we don’t add enough experience to our team this summer, I believe our so-called “obsession with progression” may suffer.
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