Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus may have an eye on a certain Championship boss, who could soon become available.
Sunderland remain without a manager, and they’re seemingly still a while away from naming Michael Beale’s successor.
It’s already been three months since Beale’s 12-game tenure came to an end. But fans are waiting on a clear front-runner to emerge.
Will Still and Bo Svensson appear to be the most closely linked names right now, with the likes of Danny Rohl and Rene Maric having seemingly fallen out of contention.
Liam Rosenior was another name mentioned; speculation quickly grew around the former full-back after he was sacked by Hull City earlier in May.
Rosenior has since rejected a return to the Championship with Plymouth Argyle, and whilst Louis-Dreyfus may have an eye on him, he could also be paying attention to other names in the Championship.
Russell Martin reportedly facing Southampton axe
Southampton are in the Championship play-offs. They drew the first leg 0-0 with West Brom and host the Baggies on Friday night.
And Daily Mail have claimed that former MK Dons and Swansea City boss Martin could face the axe if he fails to guide the Saints towards promotion to the Premier League this season.
Former centre-back Martin only took charge of the Saints last summer, guiding them to an eventual 4th place finish in the Championship, with nine points between them and Ipswich Town in 2nd.
The news has been met with mixed opinions from Saints fans online with a lot of debate over whether or not Martin will be at the club next summer.
But if he’s axed then he won’t be short of Championship suitors, and Sunderland may become one of them.
Would Russell Martin be a good fit for Sunderland
Martin’s USP as a manager is his playing style; heavily focussed on possession and short passing, which has earned a lot of plaudits in the past three seasons.
In the 2023/24 Championship season, Southampton made the most passes, had the highest pass success rate, also completing more short passes and medium passes than any other team.
The Saints also ended the season as the league’s third-highest goal scorers with 87 and the third-highest expected goals in the league (stats from FBREF).
But Martin’s side also conceded 63 goals in 46 Championship games (third-most in the top 10), also ranking in joint-sixth for most clean sheets (13, which was the same as the likes of Sheffield Wednesday and QPR).
So Southampton seem to be very potent in attack but leaky in defence under Martin. Louis-Dreyfus though may be more attracted to Southampton’s squad age which has an average of 25.1 years, making them the joint-fifth youngest team in the Championship.
Sunderland are the youngest and continue to focus on youth recruitment, so Louis-Dreyfus will want a manager who can work with a very young side, and Martin has shown this season that he can do that.
He’s helped bring through several youngsters this season including names like Nico Lawrence, Jayden Maghoma, and Tyler Dibling, albeit with limited first-team appearances.
Martin though has worked very well with some already-established players like Adam Armstrong, so Martin would need a balanced squad should he become the next Sunderland manager.
At the moment, it’s purely speculative. But the evidence suggests that Martin could be a potentially good fit for Sunderland, though whether or not Sunderland would be a good fit for him remains to be seen.
It’s a difficult job with high expectations. Whoever the next manager is needs to be backed properly and given the tools to compete in the Championship.
And if given the tools, Martin and Sunderland could prevail together. But his entire focus right now will be on his Southampton side’s play bout vs West Brom on Friday.