Sunderland have named Mike Dodds as interim boss following the departure of Michael Beale on Monday.
Dodds returns for a third stint as interim manager of Sunderland, with this spell set to be his longest with the club.
After Tony Mowbray’s exit, Dodds oversaw three games in charge of the Black Cats, beating Leeds United and West Brom before a loss at Bristol City.
Beale came in after that defeat and Dodds stayed on as an assistant.
But after a turbulent 12-game spell at the Stadium of Light, Beale is gone, and Dodds is back in until the summer.
Mike Dodds has ‘potential’, but he may not be Sunderland’s man
Dodds is a well-regarded coach and someone who is widely reported to be well-liked behind the scenes at Sunderland.
And Michael Graham says that the Sunderland owners and board see Dodds as someone with ‘head coach potential’, but that they want a boss with ‘more substance’.
Graham posted on X:
Dodds acquired his UEFA B License at the age of just 18.
He then went on to work with Birmingham City where he helped develop players like Jude Bellingham, before arriving on Wearside in 2021 as head of individual player development.
Dodds has golden chance to prove doubters wrong
For Sunderland, hiring Dodds in the summer, regardless of whether or not he does well in the final weeks of this season, would still be a risk.
He obviously lacks the experience of being a no.1. Although he’s now worked under several Sunderland coaches, Dodds has never really had a prolonged stint on his own in the dugout.
He’ll get that now, and if he does well then he could easily go off on his own and explore his opportunities as a head coach.
But taking on the Sunderland job as his first job seems like a really big step, and it seems like the Sunderland owners want someone with a bit more experience than anything else.
But Dodds remains an asset to the club and he’ll surely be kept around to work with whoever the next boss is, and should that tenure be another short-lived one and Dodds does well in these final 13 games, he could come into the reckoning then.
Sunderland host Swansea City in the Championship this weekend.
A win could lift the Black Cats right back into top six contention and give Dodds and the players the confidence they need to work their way back into the play-off places before the end of the season.