Sunderland are set to hire a new manager in the summer, after the club sacked Michael Beale last week.
Mike Dodds has taken the reins until the summer, where Sunderland then look set to hire what would be a fifth permanent manager of the Kyril Louis-Dreyfus era.
Beale’s tenure lasted just 12 games. Yet during his two-month spell on Wearside, there was plenty of controversy and turbulence.
Since his departure, several names have linked with the Stadium of Light vacancy; Steve Cooper has been tipped to come into the running, whilst Reims boss Will Still has been identified as Sunderland’s ‘ideal’ candidate.
Another name linked is Marek Papszun; the 49-year-old Polish coach is famed in his home country for taking Rakow from the third tier to the top tier, winning all three titles during a seven-year spell, with four domestic cup wins to his name as well.
Papszun left Rakow last summer and the club are now sitting in 6th place of the table, with rumours of Papszun potentially returning amid a ‘crisis’ at the club.
But contrary reports say that Papszun is keen on talking to Sunderland about becoming the club’s next boss.
And Sunderland AFC News spoke exclusively to Polish football expert Ryan Hubbard, who wrote the book ‘From Partition to Solidarity‘, covering the first 100 years of Polish football, about what to expect from a potential Papszun hire this summer.
Here’s what he had to say…
Who is Marek Papszun and what impact has he had in Polish football?
A decade ago, Marek Papszun was merely a former PE teacher who had just found his big footballing break in the lower tiers of Polish football with Legionovia Legionowo. Fast forward, and he’s one of the most sought after coaches in the country.
Back in 2016, when they hired him from Świt Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki, little did Raków Częstochowa realise that they were at the kick-starting their very own miraculous rise. In his first full season, Papszun led Raków to promotion from the third tier. Two years later, they were back into the top-flight Ekstraklasa after a 21-year absence. Within another two seasons he claimed a podium finish and a first Polish Cup and Super Cup, before repeating the feat 12 months later. Finally, in the 2022/23 season, Raków claimed a maiden Polish league championship which had been unimaginable when Papszun was appointed.
Is Papszun now determined to coach in England?
Since announcing his resignation just weeks prior to lifting the Ekstraklasa trophy, Papszun’s cards have remained close to his chest. After his whirlwind seven years in Częstochowa, he has not appeared desperate to look for a new coaching challenge. In the meantime, the 49-year-old has taken a punditry role, covering the Ekstraklasa on Polish TV.
What is his style of play?
At Raków, Papszun liked his attack to be his first line of defence. By winning the ball high up the field, his Championship-winning side was able to score more and concede fewer goals than any other side. The Medaliki also kept clean sheets in exactly half of their 34 league games.
Often Papszun would employ a 3-4-3 formation with two wide players and a striker in the front line. But he could be adaptable if needed, and favoured sticking an extra striker into the mix when needing to chase a goal.
Does his former Rakow side compare to any current Premier League side?
While the nature of their rise ensures the obvious comparisons to Leicester City, Raków’s style of play under Papszun is by no means the same. While, like Leicester, his side didn’t try to dominate possession, they weren’t really counter-attackers either. Much of his success was based on a frenetic, high press, similar to that which Jurgen Klopp employed at Liverpool.
Would Marek Papszun be ready for a big English job like Sunderland?
Despite his success, having never managed outside of his homeland it is difficult to predict how he’d fare if he were to take the plunge abroad. However, it was only a few months ago that many predicted he would be named to succeed Fernando Santos as the coach of the Polish national team. That he didn’t get that job was probably more due to cronyism rather than Papszun’s credentials. To various degrees of credulity, he has also been linked with the jobs at Legia Warsaw and Brighton & Hove Albion.
At Czestochowa, did he bring through many younger players?
Not too many, but this wasn’t due to reluctance. Given their swift ascent, Raków’s academy is far from the biggest or most prestigious in Poland; leaving slim pickings of young players for Papszun to choose from. Coupled with their relatively low budget, the club’s success was driven by clever dealings in the transfer market and intelligent coaching. Still, Ekstraklasa rules dictate that a club must give a certain amount of game time to young players; and there were never any issues with giving them a chance to stake a place in the team if they performed well.