Sunderland could turn to a very familiar face in the summer, it has been claimed.
Sunderland have been linked with former boss Alex Neil, after the club sacked Michael Beale last week.
Neil, 42, is currently out-of-work after being sacked by Stoke City in December, with the Potters having since moved into the relegation places in the Championship.
Scottish coach Neil guided Sunderland to promotion from League One in 2022 before leaving shortly after the start of the 2022/23 Championship campaign to take charge of the Potters.
Recent reports have claimed that Sunderland could consider a return for the former Norwich City and Preston North End boss.
James Copley urges club to avoid Alex Neil reunion
Neil’s emerging links have garnered a strong reaction from Black Cats fans, with the overwhelming majority urging the club to avoid a reunion.
And journalist James Copley has also suggested that a return for Neil would be another step in the wrong direction for the Sunderland owners.
He gave his verdict on the rumours on X, posting:
With Sunderland, Neil only oversaw 19 games, but he won 11 of them to leave him with an impressive win record of 57.9%, albeit with several of those games in League One.
At Stoke City, Neil won 22 of his 66 games at the helm. But despite a big summer spending spree ahead of this season, was unable to galvanise a misfiring Stoke City team.
Will Still remains the man for Sunderland
Neil would not be a good move for Sunderland.
Whilst he remains a respected coach, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus really needs to win back the trust of fans with this next appointment, after the turbulence that Beale caused.
And it’s said that Sunderland’s ideal next boss is Reims’ Will Still.
The 31-year-old continues to turn heads over in France, with a recent team goal from Reims earning Still plaudits.
And Sunderland have until the summer to save up what would likely be a decent compensation fee for the Belgian-English coach, or to figure out who else they might want to bring to the Stadium of Light.
There’ll be plenty of interest in the job and Dodds might yet come into contention if he can turn this current vein of form around.
And expect Neil to come into the discussion for job openings in the Football League over the coming months.
He has two EFL promotions to his name, with one at Sunderland and the other at Norwich City, and bags of experience too.
But for the Black Cats, that boat has surely sailed like Copley suggests, even though he did a very good job on Wearside previously.
Neil has burned his bridges at Sunderland and after Beale, the club doesn’t need any more divide between club and fan.