Sunderland could lose out on yet another managerial target, following the Will Still saga.
Will Still now looks set to join the ever-growing list of managers linked with Sunderland this summer, who’ve gone on to land other jobs.
Bo Svensson is one; he was linked with the Sunderland job briefly before taking charge of Union Berlin, whilst Still looks set for RC Lens.
Then the likes of Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday has signed an extended contract, with Rene Maric having a contract offer on the table from Bayern Munich to become an assistant to Vincent Kompany.
For Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, it’s a worrying time indeed. The Black Cats have been without a manager for nearly four months now and continue to miss out on targets.
Another name linked recently is Raphael Wicky; the former Young Boys coach was reported on be on the Black Cats’ radar last week.
The latest on Raphael Wicky to become next Sunderland manager
Reports in Europe claimed that Wicky had signed a two-year deal to become the next Sunderland manager, which Fabrizio Romano quickly shut down.
Now though, a report from Swiss outlet Blick say that Wicky is fancied by Swiss outfit St Gallen, who finished 5th in the Swiss Super League last season, securing a place in the Europa Conference League for the next campaign.
Wicky is well-known in his native Switzerland; he represented the nation 75 times as a player, then winning the league title and Swiss Cup as manager of Young Boys during the 2022/23 campaign.
He left the club in March 2024 and now appears to have several options, though whether or not Sunderland are really in for him remains to be seen.
Romano suggested that Wicky was not someone in contention.
Emerging trend tells us one thing about Sunderland manager job
Wicky could soon join the list of managers that Sunderland have missed out on this summer.
And for many, he might have been an exciting appointment; his Young Boys side earned plaudits for their expansive and overloading style of play, with Wicky bringing home a couple of trophies in 2023.
At this stage of the search, Sunderland fans may be keen for just about anyone to take over, so that the club can really start to press on with their summer transfer plans.
But whether or not Sunderland hire their ideal candidate, after Still of course, remains to be seen, with managers clearly fancying other roles.
Sunderland remains a huge club with huge potential, but the fact that managers are choosing other options tells us that the Sunderland manager job may not be so attractive after all.
There’s a lingering sense that Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman might be difficult to work with as a head coach; they appear to want more control than traditional owners and that could make the manager position quite untenable.
If Sunderland don’t have a manager in place when the summer transfer window opens on June 14th, it will be very worrying for fans.