Does Aston Villa loss show Coleman can still inspire Sunderland?

Follow us on Google Discover

Sunderland may have lost to Aston Villa but were there signs Chris Coleman could save them from relegation?

Chris Coleman, manager of Sunderland, looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match against Aston Villa.

It probably wasn’t the dream start Chris Coleman had envisaged to his time as Sunderland manager as his first match in charge ended in a 2-1 defeat at Aston Villa.

However, with his new team bottom of the Championship and Villa closing in on the automatic promotion spots, a narrow defeat in Birmingham is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

Lewis Grabban of Sunderland scores during the Sky Bet Championship match against Aston Villa.

Unfortunately the cold, hard statistics show that the Black Cats are four points off safety in the relegation zone after 18 league matches so far this season.

Yet were there signs at Villa Park that Coleman’s biggest strength in management could be exactly what a squad devoid of confidence needs right now?

After recent displays there was certainly more of the “heart” against the Villans that the Welshman had called for when he took over as boss at the Stadium of Light.

Coleman’s biggest successes in his career so far – finishing ninth with Fulham in the Premier League when they were expected to be battling the drop and taking Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 – have come when the 47-year-old has inspired talented players.

Former striker Louis Saha, who both played with and was managed by him at Craven Cottage, said he had not come across someone who could make players stop and listen like Coleman did – as reported by Get West London.

Chris Coleman looks on during the Sky Bet Championship match between Aston Villa and Sunderland.

Meanwhile, the Welsh national team’s run to the last four of the European Championships (their first major international tournament since 1958, incidentally) was characterised by the speech the manager gave to the BBC, as quoted by Wales Online, after their 3-1 quarter-final triumph against Belgium:

“Dream – don’t be afraid to have dreams. Because four years ago I was as far away from this as you can imagine and look what’s happened.

“If you work hard enough and you’re not afraid to dream and you’re not afraid to fail.

“Everybody fails. Don’t be afraid to fail. I’ve had more failures than successes, but I’m not afraid to fail.”

Sunderland do have talent at their disposal and while not a master tactician, when it comes to making players believe in themselves again there are few better than Coleman.