Colorado Rapids and former New Zealand manager Anthony Hudson has joined Paul Cook, Chris Wilder and Michael Appleton on Sunderland’s shortlist.
The two new names on Sunderland’s four man shortlist to replace Chris Coleman, as reported by TEAMtalk, will surely elicit very differing views from the Black Cats fanbase.
On one hand, Paul Cook is a proven manager at League One level who, with just one game to go this season, is a point away from winning the title at Wigan Athletic.
Anthony Hudson, however, is precisely the opposite. At 37, he is very young even by today’s standards and his last job in Britain came seven years ago, when he won just five games out of 18 in charge of Newport County.
Since 2014, Hudson has led Bahrain, New Zealand and now MLS outfit Colorado Rapids. The youngest manager in Major League Soccer history has had an unconventional career and, if Sunderland do choose him over Cook, Michael Appleton and Chris Wilder, it would rightly be seen as a monumental risk.
But if you ask Harry Redknapp, Hudson’s mentor during his short spell in charge of Tottenham Hotspur’s reserves, he will tell you that the Seattle-born Englishman is destined for the very top.
“On my last day (at Tottenham in 2010) I went to thank Harry for all he’s done in my time there,” Hudson told the BBC.
“And Harry said to everyone in the office out loud ‘see that lad, he’s going to be the new Mourinho’ and I just started laughing.
“It’s funny. Mourinho is an absolute legend and as a young coach and a young manager, there’s so many people I’m trying to learn from. But I’ve got to be me. I can’t try and copy anyone or be anyone. I’m comfortable with that.”
Mourinho, like Hudson, started his managerial career very early and had a Champions League title on his CV by the time he hit 40.
It’s fair to say Hudson has a long way to go to catch the Manchester United boss but turning around Sunderland would be one way to show off his talents.
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