Sunderland: Trusted reporter identifies reason behind delayed managerial appointment
Sunderland reporter Michael Graham claims the club are becoming increasingly frustrated with the work permit application process in their hunt for a new head coach.
Sunderland are still searching for a new head coach over 120 days after the sacking of Michael Beale.
Beale didn’t last long on Wearside and he was replaced with Mike Dodds on an interim basis.
He wasn’t able to turn their fortunes around either and things actually got worse before the end of the season.
Tony Mowbray had Sunderland inside the top six at first, but his side’s form tailed off and he was ultimately sacked in December.
Sunderland have been linked with several names since the end of the season. Will Still was a long-standing interest, Pascal Jansen joined another club, Liam Rosenior ruled himself out, Marti Cifuentes’ compensation could be an issue and a host of others are said to have been under consideration.
But now Graham claims one reason for the delay is the work permit process the club must go through in order to appoint a foreign coach.
Running out of time
Two weeks ago today owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus released a statement calling an appointment imminent and claiming they were in the final stages of the recruitment process.
That evidently didn’t go the way the club expected and it can be added to an already long list of mistakes they’ve made in the past 12 months.
Pre-season starts again very soon. At the moment Sunderland players will be reporting to no permanent head coach.
The club are in limbo at the moment and the turmoil surrounding a new head coach appointment also won’t be helping them in their attempts to recruit players this summer.
No room for error
Sunderland finished 16th last season.
That followed a top six finish the year before with almost every aspect of the club declining in quality last season.
Now, the fans are losing patience and the club have applied more pressure on themselves due to their own actions. It’s crucial Sunderland have a good season this time around and it’s vital they hit the ground running.
Failure to do so will lead to immediate criticism and it would be hard to argue against the fans for reacting in that way.
