A former Sunderland loan man has now slammed the club over their ongoing manager fiasco.
Sunderland have now surpassed the four-month mark without having a manager in place.
The Black Cats sacked Michael Beale on February 19th 2024 and named Mike Dodds as interim manager until the summer.
Since, it appears as though Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has missed out on some top targets for the manager’s job.
Will Still was the no.1 choice at the Stadium of Light; after reportedly agreeing to replace Beale at Sunderland, Still landed the RC Lens job.
Liam Rosenior was then set for further talks before he too pulled out of contention, with Sunderland now at a loss in their hunt for a new manager.
Both Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman have been widely criticised for their roles in the club’s ongoing manager fiasco.
Fans have let their feelings known online, and now former Sunderland loan man Alan Hutton has weighed in on the debate.
Alan Hutton slams Sunderland over manager fiasco
Hutton, now 39, spent time on loan with Sunderland from Tottenham Hotspur during the 2009/10 Premier League season, featuring 11 times for the Black Cats.
Speaking to The Real EFL, the former full-back said of the situation at Sunderland: “For them not to have a manager in place is quite incredible.
“Normally, you’d have sat down with your sporting director, or head of recruitment and nailed down who you want and already organised your pre-season. It’s all over the place.
“This is a big football club. You would expect this not to be happening… it just doesn’t seem right. They need to get it sorted ASAP.”
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus has made one key error at Sunderland
Four months without a manager is quite unheard of in football, as Hutton suggests. And for Sunderland, the summer ahead, and even the 2024/25 campaign, could already be very difficult.
There’s an array of issues to fix both on and off the pitch. The Sunderland players are also due back for pre-season training in less than two weeks, but the club’s doesn’t even have a manager in place.
It’s not for a lack of trying, but Louis-Dreyfus clearly made the error of putting all his eggs in one basket; the Still basket.
Sunderland appeared to have placed all their focus on hiring Still, only for that deal to fall through and the club to be left, seemingly, back at square one in their managerial search.
That’s the key error that Louis-Dreyfus has made, and may still be making behind the scenes.
This summer has certainly been a learning curve for the young Sunderland owner, who has a lot of amends to make with fans, along with Speakman.