Sunderland look set to make a managerial appointment in the summer, with several names linked so far.
Sunderland parted ways with Michael Beale after just 12 games in charge last week.
The 43-year-old won four of his 12 games at the helm and has since been replaced by Mike Dodds who takes charge until the summer.
Several names have been tipped to replace Beale on a permanent basis; Steve Cooper has been mentioned, though it’s Reims boss Will Still who’s being most linked with Sunderland.
Graeme Bailey says that the 31-year-old is Sunderland’s ‘ideal’ summer appointment.
Will Still and Reims hailed after incredible team goal
Reims currently sit in 8th place of the Ligue 1 table in what is Still’s first full season in charge.
And his side claimed a big win away at Le Havre last time out, taking the lead before going down to 10 men and conceding soon after, but finding a late winner nonetheless.
Mohamed Daramy scored both goals off the bench that day.
And his first goal came at the end of a stunning team build-up for Reims, with journalist Zach Lowry re-sharing the video on X and hailing Still’s Reims as ‘one of the best-coached teams in France’.
Reims’ build-up play is just what Sunderland need
Still continues to earn plaudits for his coaching and tactical ability.
For such a young coach, he’s proving to be very innovative and contemporary in his ways, with the above footage summarising what he can do with a team.
And that kind of build-up play, and exciting and daring football will be particularly attractive to Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman, who’ll be especially eager to entertain the Sunderland fans next season after the negative football on display under Beale.
Still would certainly bring a change in mentality, and what’s more is that he’s getting a lot out of younger players like Daramy, who is only 22 years old but has now scored and assisted five goals in Ligue 1 this season.
Still then will be fully focused on the run-in with Reims, with the club playing for a spot in European football next season.
That could be a huge deciding factor in whether or not he stays, though he’s aware of the Sunderland links having spoken about them previously, and if Reims miss out on European football then it could prompt him to take on a new challenge.
Sunderland is a huge club and with their talented set of players, it could well be a sleeping giant of a club, providing they get the right manager in this summer.
Sunderland return to action away at Norwich City this weekend.