This 52-year-old former Sunderland player has thrown his hat in the ring for the head coach job.
Sunderland and Michael Beale parted ways yesterday.
The 43-year-old oversaw just 12 games in charge of the Black Cats, winning four and losing six, with the club now sitting in 10th place of the Championship table.
Mike Dodds has been named interim boss until the end of the season. Though fans are already suggesting who they want to see arrive at the club in the summer, with Reims boss Will Still once again being called for.
But a former Sunderland player has unexpectedly put his name forward for the job; Dwight Yorke.
Dwight Yorke fancies Sunderland return
Yorke, 52, finished his 19-year playing career with a three-year stint on Wearside.
He made 62 total appearances for Sunderland and scored six goals, with five of those goals coming in the 2006/07 Championship-winning season for the Black Cats.
Since, Yorke has made his way into the dugout. He’s had one job as a coach; with Australian A-League side Macarthur FC, where he oversaw 19 games and won 10 between July 2022 and January 2023, winning the Australia Cup in 2022.
As quoted by Sunderland Echo, Yorke said of the Sunderland head coach job:
“I’ve played for these clubs and it would be nice to go back to Sunderland, but it doesn’t mean that I’d rule out managing another club in the EFL. I have to be open-minded to the challenge I’d have to take on.”
Plenty of interest, but Sunderland need to take time
After such a turbulent Beale tenure, the Sunderland board look set to take their time with their next appointment, and that’s reflective in the quick announcement that Dodds will take charge until the summer.
Expect the club to do their due diligence and scout every market possible, and expect Dodds to be in with a good shout of landing the job if he goes on to do well this season.
Yorke though may not have the CV that Sunderland are looking for.
He’s had a good, albeit very brief stint in management in Australia, and he’s been out of the game since, so it looks like Yorke would need to have another stint somewhere else to then come into the conversation for a top job in England.
And the whole trend of appointing players based on their playing allegiances seems to be dying down; at least for Sunderland whose vision and project needs a young and innovative coach to match.
So Yorke to Sunderland certainly seems like a longshot. But the club surprised everyone with their appointment of Beale and so Yorke might hold some hope yet.