Sunderland could be eager to see Mike Dodds return to his previous role at the club.
The 37-year-old has overseen Championship victories against West Brom and Leeds United in the past week, and has been tipped to be handed the job on a permanent basis.
However, journalist Michael Graham has now claimed that Sunderland rate him ‘incredibly highly’ as a coach and are eager to see him return to his usual role on Wearside.
Mike Dodds kicked off his coaching career with Coventry City at only 18 years old, where he acquired his UEFA B License. Dodds went onto join Birmingham City’s academy in 2009, before becoming their academy manager in 2020.
After helping develop the likes of Demarai Gray, Jude Bellingham and Jobe, Dodds arrived at Sunderland in August 2021.
The coach will be desperate to forget about his first stint as interim manager following Lee Johnson’s sacking in February 2022, where Sunderland endured back-to-back defeats to Cheltenham Town and Doncaster Rovers.
However, things have gone much better this time round, claiming maximum points against two huge promotion favourites.
With all the players showing their love and appreciation for Dodds, there has been brief mentions of him replacing Tony Mowbray full-time. However, as major rumours continue to link Will Still with a move to Wearside, it looks highly unlikely that Dodds will be staying in the hot seat.
Michael Graham has insisted that Sunderland do rate the 37-year-old very highly though. Writing on X, he said: “On Mike Dodds btw, #SAFC rate him incredibly highly as a coach. Would prefer to return him to that role as he makes a huge difference there.
“It’s why Alex Neil tried to take him with him to Stoke. Neil certainly did better with him than he did without him…”
How important is Mike Dodds to Sunderland?
You very rarely look further behind the scenes when a team is doing well, but it is clear now that Mike Dodds had a huge impact on Sunderland’s success last season.
While we all loved Tony Mowbray, the tactics displayed in the win over Leeds United showed just how stubborn the former manager was. He never really changed formation, tactics or plans depending on the opposition.
Dodds is clearly a very smart man who could well become a manager one day, but we would definitely benefit from him remaining on our coaching staff for now. Hopefully he can be a great help once we appoint a new permanent head coach.