A former Sunderland manager says he could’ve been at the club for ‘a long time’, if it wasn’t for one thing.
Since 2010, Sunderland have employed 15 permanent managers, with two in the 2023/24 season in Tony Mowbray and then Michael Beale.
But the Black Cats have now been without a manager for almost three months to the day, with Mike Dodds seeing Sunderland into the summer on an interim basis.
Several names are tipped to take on the ever-challenging but potentially rewarding Sunderland job. But who it is that owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus eventually hires remains something of a mystery.
There’s been online speculation of the Black Cats potentially returning for former boss Alex Neil who was axed by Stoke City midway through the 2023/24 season.
However, that seems unlikely as things stand. And another former Black Cats boss has recently spoke out on his time at the club, revealing that he could’ve been there for a long time if it wasn’t for another job offer.
Sam Allardyce discusses Sunderland tenure
Sam Allardyce was in charge of Sunderland from October 2015 to July 2016, overseeing 31 total games, winning nine, drawing nine, and losing 13.
Dick Advocaat was the manager who led Sunderland into that 2015/16 season. But he left after the opening eight Premier League games of the season with Sunderland winless and in the relegation zone.
Big Sam would eventually oversee a 17th place finish; finishing two points above Newcastle United in 18th after the Black Cats went unbeaten in their final six games of the campaign.
Allardyce, now 69, would leave that following summer to take the England job, though that would famously last just one game, with Allardyce winning his only game as England manager.
But speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce has revealed that he could well have been at the Stadium of Light for a lot longer if it wasn’t for England calling.
Allardyce said: “The Sunderland fans were very, very appreciating towards me. It was very good. Who knows, had I not got the England job, I could’ve been there a long time.”
Could Sam Allardyce have saved Sunderland
The season following Allardyce’s Sunderland exit, Sunderland would suffer relegation to the Championship, and then go on to suffer a successive relegation, ending up in League One.
It came after Big Sam had guided the Black Cats to an unexpected 17th place finish in that 2015/16 and so there’s definitely reason to suggest that he could’ve prevented Sunderland’s downfall.
But there’s also the argument that the downfall was inevitable given the poor finances at the time and the poor spending in the transfer market.
Fans may not hold any grudges against Allardyce for taking the England job, though they may rue the fact that he only stayed for one game, knowing that he could’ve lead Sunderland into that perilous 2016/17 season and potentially have kept them up once again.
A lot has changed since then. Sunderland’s financial situation is looking much rosier now and the club has a real chance to lay some foundations this summer, providing they hire the right manager.
It’s a crucial summer ahead but one that could really define the next several years for the football club.