The day has come where Sunderland finally waves goodbye to Tony Mowbray, with tears in our eyes.
The club confirmed the 60-year-old’s sacking late last night, much to the delight of many, but also the shock of others.
Tony Mowbray transformed us into a team pushing for promotion, with a group of young kids that at points looked like world-beaters.
He was one of the most likeable managers we have ever had, and while expected, it is still really sad to see him leave Wearside.
Many will argue Mowbray’s exit has come too soon and perhaps he should have been given till Christmas. But the play-offs could be out of our grasp by then and the Black Cats clearly want someone in before the January transfer window.
We have already seen Amad Diallo wish Mowbray good luck and there is no doubt that a large number of our current squad will be heartbroken to see him go.
However, there will also be some players that could really benefit from Kyril Louis-Dreyfus showing him the door.
Here are five winners from Tony Mowbray’s sacking…
Jack Clarke
Jack Clarke has thrived under Tony Mowbray and may not have even reached the heights that he has without him.
The winger didn’t exactly set to the world alight while Sunderland were still in League One, however he took it up a notch following our promotion.
But the recent form under Mowbray has left Clarke at a standstill – unable to improve or add to his goal tally.
Clarke needs to be able to get back to his best and bringing in a young, exciting coach may help with that.
Luis Hemir
It always seemed pretty obvious that Tony Mowbray didn’t really favour Luis Hemir following his debut on the opening day. The striker was behind Nazariy Rusyn, Eliezer Mayenda and Mason Burstow in the pecking order.
Mowbray’s departure gives Hemir a fresh opportunity to impress, and as long as he puts in the hard work in training, there’s no reason why he couldn’t earn himself a place back in the team. He could also benefit from working under a foreign manager – if Sunderland go down that route.
It will be interesting to see how our struggling forwards start to perform once we have someone new through the door.
Jenson Seelt
Tony Mowbray clearly absolutely loved Luke O’Nien and it is easy to see why. However, the 29-year-old probably isn’t quite where we want him to be defensively.
A new manager could come in and be prepared to develop Jenson Seelt to the point where he is ready to play alongside Dan Ballard, as it is obvious that we need some fresh ideas in our leaky backline.
Nectarios Triantis could also find some hope in a new arrival, though he seems to be much further from the starting line-up.
Abdoullah Ba
Abdoullah Ba has struggled to retain a regular run in the team, but he will be hoping Kyril Louis-Dreyfus opts to bring in another Frenchman.
Sunderland have already signed the likes of Ba, Pierre Ekwah and Edouard Michut, and there’s no reason why they wouldn’t add another at the top of the tree.
It will be interesting to see where a new manager will play Ba, though it would still be a surprise to see them favour him over Patrick Roberts on the right. The youngster is certainly lively and was called ‘wonderful’ by Mowbray, but an in-form Roberts is unstoppable.
Alex Pritchard
Alex Pritchard has drastically fallen out of favour at Sunderland recently, with Tony Mowbray much preferring Bradley Dack – though no one really knows why.
The midfielder has only played 84 minutes of football since October and was glued to the bench in matches against Birmingham and Plymouth.
While another manager still might not be keen on Pritchard due to his age, at least it gives the 30-year-old a chance to catch the eye and force his way back into the team.