After a poor start under interim boss Mike Dodds, Sunderland now seem poised to make another permanent manager appointment in the summer.
Sunderland sacked Michael Beale last month and placed the well-liked Dodds in charge until the summer.
There was hope and expectation that the Black Cats would have a new-manager bounce under the 37-year-old, though it’s been far from.
Dodds has lost his opening three games, with Sunderland having lost their last five in the Championship to fall to 11th place of the table.
The Black Cats are now nine points above the drop zone and 10 away from the top six.
Dodds was given half a chance at landing the Sunderland job on a permanent basis upon being made interim boss, but it now seems like Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and co will bring in someone completely new.
Sunderland options open right now
The name on most people’s lips is Will Still.
The Reims boss is Sunderland’s ideal next manager, though it remains to be seen whether or not he’d fancy leaving Reims in the summer and coming to England.
Still is reportedly interested in managing in the Championship, though with Reims pushing for European football next season, Sunderland could be a difficult sell.
Other names are being mentioned too; former Nottingham Forest and Swansea City boss Steve Cooper has a mutual appreciation with the Sunderland board, whilst Polish coach Marek Papszun is reportedly keen on taking charge at the Stadium of Light.
Someone who Sunderland wanted long before Beale though, even going into this current season, was Francesco Farioli.
Francesco Farioli turning heads in France
Farioli, 34, was first linked with Sunderland towards the end of the 2022/23 season, with Fabrizio Romano claiming that Sunderland had an eye on him as they considered the future under Tony Mowbray.
The Italian coach had impressed in Turkey with Alanyaspor, and also had interest from Watford, but he’d eventually land the Nice job in June 2023.
Since then, Farioli has made Nice into European contenders with the club sitting in 5th place of the Ligue 1 table, with Farioli having a record of 13 wins, 8 draws, and 6 losses at the club (48.15% win rate).
But what’s most astonishing is Nice’s defensive record; they’ve conceded just 17 goals in Ligue 1 this season.
That’s two less than PSG at the top of the table, with only two teams in Europe’s top five divisions (Premier League, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A) having a better defensive record; Bayer Leverkusen and Inter Milan.
Farioli’s Nice are described as an ‘efficient’ team and given recent results at Sunderland, this kind of efficiency and defensive record would be very welcome.
Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman are already aware of Farioli, whose Nice side sit four places ahead of Still’s Reims in 9th, and he could well be on their radar ahead of the summer, with the Still links showing that Sunderland perhaps have a list of long-term bosses who they fancy.
The only issue would be goals; Nice have scored just 23 in 24 Ligue 1 appearances this season. And then with Jack Clarke potentially leaving Sunderland in the summer and the striker situation already dire, it could make for an even less potent Sunderland side.
But whoever the manager is looks set to be given new attacking players in the summer; Sunderland simply have to given the Clarke situation and the overall lack of goals in the side.
So a new front-line, combined with Farioli’s shrewd defensive tactics, could make him a very good option for Sunderland in the summer.