Chris Coleman has been explaining his decision to swap Wales for Sunderland but could West Bromwich Albion make him regret it?
Coleman has been appointed the new boss at the Stadium of Light and many have questioned his sanity given Sunderland’s plight at the bottom of a fiercely competitive Championship.
Riddled with debt and facing consecutive relegations Coleman has swapped Gareth Bale and Aaron Ramsey for Lee Catermole and Paddy McNair.
The Black Cats drew 2-2 at home with Millwall last time out to extend their winless home run to 20 games as Coleman watched on.
But Coleman told the press at his unveiling on Monday he sees it as one of the biggest jobs in football citing the club’s 47,000 supporters as reason enough for optimism, despite the fact only 27,000 turned up to their last home game.
Deep down, though, will Coleman’s decision to take on the task at Sunderland be tinged with regret given that 24 hours later fellow Welshman Tony Pulis was sacked by West Bromwich Albion?
Given that West Brom’s fellow strugglers West Ham, Everton, Leicester City and Crystal Palace have all changed their managers already just a third of the way through the campaign, the Baggies were probably the last club that Coleman had a realistic hope of managing in the Premier League this season.
Had Coleman waited just a day or two more he may well have found himself at the top of West Brom’s list and in charge of an under performing but decent squad of players and a steady Premier League outfit both on and off the pitch.
Instead Coleman will find himself fighting fires in the north east while ironically Pulis is one of the favourites to take over from him in the Wales hotseat.
Indeed could Sunderland be regretting not holding out another day or so to offer the job to Pulis who has fashioned a career making teams organised, hard to beat and specialising in avoiding relegation.
Pulis also has experience of taking Stoke up from the Championship and establishing them as a Premier League club.
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