roker report 
29-04-2024 05:57
29-04-2024 05:57
Editorial: An open-minded approach to recruiting Sunderland’s next Head Coach
Since Michael Beale was sacked two and a half months ago, rather remarkably there have been no strong links with any potential replacements as Sunderland Head Coach — until now.
Step forward Rene Maric — a 31-year-old Austrian Coach who is part of the setup at Bayern Munich, and the former assistant manager at Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach and Red Bull Salzburg.
I’m not completely sure if Maric is the man they’re going to give the job to, but given his profile I’m not entirely surprised we’re looking down this route when it comes to appointing the next gaffer. Every appointment thus far by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has been rather unspectacular and ‘safe-looking’ on paper (yes, even Michael Beale), but there’s always been this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that we’d end up going after a trendy European coach at some point — a complete departure from every other move they’ve made.
I think most people’s choice would be someone who already has promotion experience on their CV — Steve Cooper or Paul Heckinbottom being the two most obvious choices, given both men are out of work and got teams out of the Championship last season — but it seems we’re going in a different direction, one that many other clubs have already taken at this level, and to great success.
Leicester secured promotion over the weekend with Enzo Maresca at the helm, the former assistant to Pep Guardiola, and if you look down the table you’ll find plenty of examples where clubs have taken the plunge with a ‘coach’, many of them lacking in managerial experience before taking up their current roles. Ipswich could well finish second behind Maresca’s men, and they’re led by Kieran McKenna, who prior to taking up the reins at Portman Road had zero first-team managerial experience.
Then you’ve got Carlos Corberán at West Brom (former U23s manager at Leeds United) in sixth, Liam Rosenior at Hull (Rooney’s assistant at Derby) in seventh, Michael Carrick at Boro (his first managerial role) in eighth... and the list goes on. Looking even further down you’ll find Saturday’s opponents Sheffield Wednesday in 20th, but the job done by Danny Rohl — his first job as first team manager at any club — has been nothing short of extraordinary, given they looked dead and buried when he took the job back in October.
So, whilst I’d love a more proven manager in charge, I’m not totally against appointing a young, promising coach if they’re a good fit. It clearly works at this level and is working at other clubs who are ahead of us in the table, so I can hardly sit back and say it’s a bad idea.
All managerial appointments are risks, regardless of whether you give the job to a 31-year-old Austrian Football Manager nerd or a 64-year-old “been around the block several thousands of times” gaffer — they’re all punts and they all leave at some point, so it’s ultimately about what position they leave you in when they do go. What’s true is that regardless of who they give the job to, this appointment is the biggest yet made by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman. Given how badly this season has deteriorated since Tony Mowbray was sacked, they’re under serious pressure to get it right.
They’re already up against it with most fans and for many others, they’re on thin ice.
Maybe a change in direction is what is needed? Every appointment they made up until Mowbray made perfect sense and took the club forward, but the decision to bring in Beale and then stick Mike Dodds in charge has been a disaster. We need a revolution of ideas behind the scenes and on the training pitch so that we can get this talented but disenchanted group of players singing from the same hymnsheet again and playing a positive, attractive brand of football that can get us challenging for promotion again.
Is Maric that guy? I have no idea and neither does anyone else on Wearside, unless you’re somehow a fan of Bayern Munich U19s and have been tracking his progress as a coach. Anyone pretending they know definitively one way or the other is purely guessing.
If it is him — and at this stage that’s a big if — then he’ll get my full support and backing, as they all do. That’s the very least any new Head Coach deserves when taking the job.
Yesterday when the news broke I felt excited about Sunderland again, and I haven’t felt this way in absolutely ages. That is probably more important than we realise.
Step forward Rene Maric — a 31-year-old Austrian Coach who is part of the setup at Bayern Munich, and the former assistant manager at Borussia Dortmund, Borussia Monchengladbach and Red Bull Salzburg.
I’m not completely sure if Maric is the man they’re going to give the job to, but given his profile I’m not entirely surprised we’re looking down this route when it comes to appointing the next gaffer. Every appointment thus far by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has been rather unspectacular and ‘safe-looking’ on paper (yes, even Michael Beale), but there’s always been this nagging feeling at the back of my mind that we’d end up going after a trendy European coach at some point — a complete departure from every other move they’ve made.
I think most people’s choice would be someone who already has promotion experience on their CV — Steve Cooper or Paul Heckinbottom being the two most obvious choices, given both men are out of work and got teams out of the Championship last season — but it seems we’re going in a different direction, one that many other clubs have already taken at this level, and to great success.
Leicester secured promotion over the weekend with Enzo Maresca at the helm, the former assistant to Pep Guardiola, and if you look down the table you’ll find plenty of examples where clubs have taken the plunge with a ‘coach’, many of them lacking in managerial experience before taking up their current roles. Ipswich could well finish second behind Maresca’s men, and they’re led by Kieran McKenna, who prior to taking up the reins at Portman Road had zero first-team managerial experience.
Then you’ve got Carlos Corberán at West Brom (former U23s manager at Leeds United) in sixth, Liam Rosenior at Hull (Rooney’s assistant at Derby) in seventh, Michael Carrick at Boro (his first managerial role) in eighth... and the list goes on. Looking even further down you’ll find Saturday’s opponents Sheffield Wednesday in 20th, but the job done by Danny Rohl — his first job as first team manager at any club — has been nothing short of extraordinary, given they looked dead and buried when he took the job back in October.
So, whilst I’d love a more proven manager in charge, I’m not totally against appointing a young, promising coach if they’re a good fit. It clearly works at this level and is working at other clubs who are ahead of us in the table, so I can hardly sit back and say it’s a bad idea.
All managerial appointments are risks, regardless of whether you give the job to a 31-year-old Austrian Football Manager nerd or a 64-year-old “been around the block several thousands of times” gaffer — they’re all punts and they all leave at some point, so it’s ultimately about what position they leave you in when they do go. What’s true is that regardless of who they give the job to, this appointment is the biggest yet made by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman. Given how badly this season has deteriorated since Tony Mowbray was sacked, they’re under serious pressure to get it right.
They’re already up against it with most fans and for many others, they’re on thin ice.
Maybe a change in direction is what is needed? Every appointment they made up until Mowbray made perfect sense and took the club forward, but the decision to bring in Beale and then stick Mike Dodds in charge has been a disaster. We need a revolution of ideas behind the scenes and on the training pitch so that we can get this talented but disenchanted group of players singing from the same hymnsheet again and playing a positive, attractive brand of football that can get us challenging for promotion again.
Is Maric that guy? I have no idea and neither does anyone else on Wearside, unless you’re somehow a fan of Bayern Munich U19s and have been tracking his progress as a coach. Anyone pretending they know definitively one way or the other is purely guessing.
If it is him — and at this stage that’s a big if — then he’ll get my full support and backing, as they all do. That’s the very least any new Head Coach deserves when taking the job.
Yesterday when the news broke I felt excited about Sunderland again, and I haven’t felt this way in absolutely ages. That is probably more important than we realise.