Sunderland are likely to have a busy summer following their poor Championship season.
Sunderland’s poor second half of the Championship campaign ended with a 2-0 loss to Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday, sealing their 16th-place finish.
The focus has now shifted to a busy summer, which includes the appointment of a new head coach and a partial squad construction. So, what happened yesterday, and what can supporters expect next? Here, we answer the three main questions as they stand…
What’s the latest on the head coach search and who is in the frame?
Sunderland’s hunt for Michael Beale’s permanent successor is currently in its final stages following the end of the campaign, and it is clearly the club hierarchy’s primary focus as they prepare for a demanding summer of reconstruction.
According to the Echo, an appointment is not forthcoming at this time, thus supporters’ nervous wait to know who will lead a play-off drive next season will likely continue for some time. Sunderland’s reasoning for not appointing immediately following Beale’s departure was that they would be better served by taking the time to reflect on what went wrong in their previous appointment, as well as giving themselves the time to run a thorough process to try and get a better outcome the next time. Most importantly, the experience of searching for Tony Mowbray’s replacement has demonstrated that there will be a larger pool of high-quality applicants in the summer. Sunderland’s process still has a long way to go, with several leagues to complete and futures in certain cases still being considered. The club’s patient approach has certainly left something of a leadership vacuum in recent months, and the campaign’s disappointing conclusion has resulted in widespread apathy among the fanbase. This method raises the stakes significantly, and getting the appointment right is critical if the club’s project is to continue to garner fan support next season and beyond.
Sunderland’s criteria for the new head coach have not changed considerably; they are still seeking for a man with an elite coaching history and a proven track record of player development. They may have learned some lessons from the Beale era, such as the need of that candidate being able to establish relationship with fans and deal with the particular challenges of heading one of the UK’s largest teams.
Danny Rohl is well-known for his exceptional performance at Sheffield Wednesday this season and his coaching history, but he will have many admirers, and early negotiations over his future at Hillsborough are said to have gone well. Will Still is an obvious choice, admired by the club’s management and currently a free agent after leaving Stade de Reims last week. Still wants to return to the UK and is willing to drop down to the Championship to do it, despite the fact that he is expected to be in high demand. Rene Maric, who currently works for Bayern Munich, is another name who has been strongly linked to the role. Our impression is that Maric has previously been a strong contender for the role and is therefore clearly well regarded, but he has not yet emerged as a big contender this time around. Clearly, these things can alter rapidly.
It’s also worth noting at this point that Sunderland has spent a significant amount of time interviewing and evaluating a large number of applicants, many of whom have not been made public. Some of those will remain in contention as the process nears its conclusion, which should be in the next few weeks.
Does this mean recruitment and planning for next season is on hold?
No. The head coach will be required to work with Sunderland’s current coaching staff (and maybe add their own) as well as the club’s existing football and recruitment structure. As a result, those in place have already completed much of the preseason planning, and choices have been made on those who will be out of contract this summer. Recruitment discussions began last month to analyse what positions Sunderland could need to fill, and they will ramp up over the next few weeks as they continue to assess and pick targets.
Clearly, having a head coach present as those discussions begin would be a significant advantage, allowing them to provide their own perspective and provide a sense of their own wants and goals for the future. At this point, they haven’t lost much time in terms of assembling the squad for next season and giving the new manager time to settle in, but this will begin to change if the situation remains unresolved by the end of the month.
After such a disappointing second half to the season, are Sunderland going to change the much-debated ‘model’? What do we know about that the team will look like next season at this stage?
Mike Dodds has made it plain that Sunderland fans should not expect a big revamp of the club’s philosophy. Sunderland’s commitment to signing youngsters with long-term potential and giving them regular opportunities in the first team is unwavering; they’ll field one of, if not the division’s youngest squads next season.
There may be a minor variation in their recruiting compared to last summer, when the vast majority of players signed were inexperienced at the level. Dodds has stated that Sunderland believes they need to sign one or two more experienced Championship players, but he has clarified that by experience, he means appearances rather than age. Sunderland will not vary from their basic approach, but the results over the last few months have told their own narrative, and there is an acknowledgement behind the scenes that a lack of squad depth was exposed when important players in the starting XI were out due to injury and suspension. The idea is to solve that this summer, which is precisely what fans anticipate as they hope to see a squad constructed that can compete for the play-offs at least next season.
Behind the scenes, there has also been an agreement that the style of play has deteriorated significantly since Tony Mowbray’s departure, and the selection of a new head coach, as well as the summer recruitment, will be aimed at addressing this. Both Beale and Dodds sought to address Sunderland’s perceived inadequacies out of possession in the first half of the season, attempting to shore up the team and eliminate what they saw as soft goals. While Dodds, in particular, had some success on that front, the dial definitely swung too far in the opposite direction, and by the end of the campaign, many supporters were dissatisfied with the football they were watching. Sunderland seek to strike a balance between the two, although one would think that the first half of the campaign has taught them that it is preferable to fall short by being adventurous.
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