Sunderland may have had a bad week, but one of their former players-turned-coaches has had a bit of good news as he finally got a new job in the game.
Regis Le Bris has done a fantastic job at Sunderland this season, but the Frenchman is arguably going through his toughest spell on Wearside right now.
The Black Cats have lost back-to-back games for the first time this term, with defeats against Hull City and Leeds United leaving the Mackems eight points adrift of second place, and a massive 13 points away from the top of the Championship table.
Sunderland could turn things around still, of course, but they’ll be looking nervously over their shoulders at the other teams in the top six now. And one of those teams just added a familiar face to their backroom staff.
Dean Whitehead becomes assistant manager at Blackburn Rovers
Dean Whitehead, who established himself as a Sunderland legend with 199 appearances for the club between 2004 and 2008, has been out of work since departing Stoke City at the start of January.
Now, he’s found a new role, and he will be reunited with Valerien Ismael at Blackburn Rovers, after taking on the assistant manager job at the Lancashire outfit.
Whitehead previously supported Ismael at Watford and Turkish outfit Besiktas, and will now be looking to help the Frenchman maintain Rovers’ place in the top six until the end of the season.
Speaking on the Blackburn Rovers website about his new assistant, Ismael said: “Dean is a great guy… He comes from football. He is a former player who had a big career and he brings a lot of experience.
“He is someone who understands about the culture and what every club is about. He knows English football perfectly, he knows the people, he has good connections and his expertise is very important to me.”
Sunderland still need to add to their coaching staff
Naturally, the pull of working with Ismael again will have been a major factor in Whitehead’s decision to go to Blackburn.
But, it does make us wonder why Whitehead hasn’t been approached by Sunderland in the interim period between him leaving Stoke and taking on this job.
We know the Sunderland coaching staff is a man short after Mike Dodds’ departure to Wycombe Wanderers. The truth is, the Black Cats haven’t acclimatised to life without Dodds yet, and they need someone to fill that void.
Bringing in someone like Whitehead would have been the ideal way to add experience to Le Bris’ team, while also capturing the spirit of Wearside and having someone the young squad can look up to.
Looks like Sunderland will have to get Kevin Phillips off the unemployment line instead.