Sunderland interim coach Mike Dodds has laid out his plans for his future beyond the summer.
Mike Dodds joined Sunderland back in August 2021 as head of individual player development, and has been on a whirlwind journey since.
The 37-year-old has worked under four different managers on Wearside and had only been at the club for five months before he was thrust into his first spell as interim manager following Lee Johnson’s sacking.
It proved to be an absolute nightmare for Dodds, who oversaw back-to-back defeats to Doncaster Rovers and Cheltenham Town.
The coach was given a chance to redeem himself almost two years later though, when he was handed the role once again following Tony Mowbray’s exit.
Dodds was much more successful this time round and picked up six points against Leeds United and West Brom before losing to Bristol City.
He is now into his third stint as interim head coach, but this time he is expected to take the reins until the end of the season.
There has been plenty of murmurs of appointing Dodds permanently in the summer, though the club seem most likely to look abroad to someone like Will Still instead.
While Dodds doesn’t seem too phased about taking the job on full-time, he has admitted that he hopes to remain at the Stadium of Light next season as a coach.
When asked about staying at Sunderland, Dodds told Sunderland Echo: “I hope so, I’m not stepping in to help out to get the sack at the end of it! I hope so, I’ve settled in the area and I absolutely love it.
“I think it’s an unbelievable football club that will hopefully in the not too distant future be back where it belongs, but of course we’ve got to earn the right to be there and I want to be really respectful to all the other teams – there’s nine teams ahead of us at the moment. But I see my long-term future here until the club tell me otherwise, that’s where I’m at.”
Will we keep Mike Dodds this summer?
Mike Dodds is clearly a brilliant coach and really showed that with those tactical masterclasses against Leeds and West Brom.
While it didn’t really work out against Swansea, I’m sure we will see the best of him for the remainder of the season.
He wasn’t able to inspire much under Michael Beale, but the coach has an excellent relationship with a lot of our players and should really know how to get the best out of him.
Even if he isn’t appointed our manager at the end of the season, most will hope he stays at the club and can help us get to the Premier League, as that is the least he deserves after all his hard work over the last few years.