Sunderland had a season to forget in the Championship, as Mike Dodds steered the Black Cats to an eventual 16th-place finish under his dismal interim tenure.
It’s been a dramatic decline for a side who were competing in the second-tier play-offs just last season with Tony Mowbray at the helm, losing out to Luton Town in the semi-finals after winning the home leg, with Sunderland finishing a dire 17 points shy of the top six this term in contrast.
Losing six games on the trot under Dodds’ tenure was a particularly dark point of the season, with a feeling of relief when the campaign was finally over and done with after a 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday.
With just one goal mustered up in the entirety of April, it looked unlikely that Dodds would be handed the full-time job at the conclusion of the campaign, and Sunderland will now be searching for a successor who can lift the spirits back up and get results on the pitch heading in the right direction.
With that in mind, who could the powers that be at the Wearside outfit opt for next in the dugout? Here are 10 candidates that have been linked with the Sunderland vacancy, including one name that has been recently dismissed at this level, as well as an ex-Newcastle United player…
| Next Sunderland manager odds (via BettingOdds.com) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Manager | Current team | Odds |
| Will Still | n/a | 2/5 fav |
| Bo Svensson | n/a | 3/1 |
| Rene Maric | Bayern Munich U19s | 3/1 |
| Paul Heckingbottom | n/a | 12/1 |
| Slaven Bilic | Al Fateh | 12/1 |
| Liam Rosenior | n/a | 12/1 |
| Marti Cifuentes | Queens Park Rangers | 14/1 |
| Mike Williamson | Milton Keynes Dons | 25/1 |
| Alex Rae | n/a | 25/1 |
| Paul Cook | Chesterfield | 25/1 |
| Odds correct as of 17th May 2024 | ||
1Will Still
Free agent (Last job: Stade de Reims)
Still’s name was being talked about out for the job when the disastrous reign of Michael Beale was put out of its misery before Dodds took on his interim duties, and there are many valid reasons why his name keeps floating about for this vacancy.
Only 31 years of age, Still could be the perfect face to take over and transform this equally raw and young group of players, with his CV in France seeing him take Reims to 11th in Ligue 1 and masterminding a much-talked-about 19-game unbeaten streak.
2Bo Svensson
Free agent (Last job: Mainz)
Svensson, who won 39 games for Mainz in 109 appearances before being fired late last year, would be interested in moving to England to follow in this pair’s path.
Expect Sunderland to make an approach for the Dane if they are unable to reach an agreement to appoint Still.
Bayern Munich U19s
4Paul Heckingbottom
Free agent (Last job: Sheffield United)
5Slaven Bilic
Al-Fateh
A nomadic manager who has taken charge of teams from all over the world, including China, Turkey and Saudi Arabia across his varied career, the Croat could jump at the opportunity to return to England with Sunderland.
12/1 in the betting odds to take over from Dodds, he could well have an outside chance of being Sunderland’s new boss.
Free agent (Last job: Hull City)
Just sacked from his post at Hull City at the start of May, Liam Rosenior could view this Sunderland vacancy as the best way to bounce back and prove any doubters wrong.
Rosenior managed to catapult the Tigers up to a seventh-placed finish this season just gone, before being somewhat harshly relieved of his duties.
Accumulating 27 wins from 78 games in charge of Hull and only losing 23, Rosenior could want a new club soon to try to kick on after the disappointment of leaving his old side behind.
Queens Park Rangers
Ever since taking over QPR earlier in the season to replace the miserable Gareth Ainsworth, Marti Cifuentes—along with the previously mentioned Rohl at Hillsborough—has been a revelation in the second division.
After being relegated to the bottom three under the former Wycombe Wanderers player, Cifuentes’ west London team emerged from the relegation trap and finished with the same number of points as Sunderland on the last matchday. Cifuentes won 13 of his 33 games in charge at Loftus Road.
It could be difficult to convince QPR to part ways with their valiant Spaniard, but he might consider stepping into the Black Cats role to test himself at a team that hopes to advance.
8Mike Williamson
Milton Keynes Dons
9Alex Rae
Free agent (Last job: St Mirren)
He is more known for being a right-hand man as an assistant manager at many different clubs, and currently occupies first-team coaching duties at Scottish giants Rangers, but was previously also in and around the EFL at the likes of MK Dons, Notts County and Blackpool supporting Paul Ince.
Rae might well be tempted by the spotlight of being the main man again if Sunderland come calling, having exited St Mirren with a respectable 13 wins from 32 games, with a draw even being picked up against his current employers along the way.
10Paul Cook
Chesterfield
Having won the National League title with Chesterfield this season, Paul Cook—an EFL manager once again—is the last name on this shortlist of possible new Sunderland managers.
As the manager of the Spireites, the 57-year-old easily won the division by managing a 98-point total that included an incredible 106 goals scored in 46 games.
Nevertheless, Cook’s attention might be drawn to the Championship even if his aspirational team considers going back to League Two for consecutive promotions.
Previously, he struggled in higher-level managerial roles; at Ipswich Town, he managed to win just 14 of his 44 games, and his tenure ended bitterly as the now-Premier League team struggled in League One.
Now that he’s back on the upswing in his career, he might be interested in moving to Sunderland to challenge himself even farther up the EFL ladder.
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