Sunderland are considering Chelsea’s Anthony Barry as they seek to bring in a new manager to replace Stoke City-bound Alex Neil.
The Black Cats have been rocked with boss Neil seemingly on his way out of the Stadium of Light.
Stoke City sacked boss Michael O’Neill on Thursday and have now moved in for Neil as his replacement.
Stoke wanted Neil back in his Preston North End days and now appear to have finally landed their man.
Neil didn’t take charge of Sunderland’s game against Norwich City on Saturday and was spotted watching Stoke take on Blackburn Rovers, so the deal seems close.
Sunderland are considering Chelsea’s Anthony Barry
Sunderland will now have to go and find a replacement and Tony Mowbray has been the main name linked at this stage.
However, two more names have been added to the mix this morning.
The Sun’s Alan Nixon reports that Sunderland are considering Chelsea coach Anthony Barry and MK Dons manager Liam Manning.
It’s claimed that both were in the mix when Sunderland appointed Neil earlier this year and are now being eyed once again.
Barry, 36, had a long playing career with the likes of Accrington Stanley, Yeovil Town, Chester City, Fleetwood Town and Forest Green Rovers.
A tenacious midfielder back then, Barry has turned to coaching and joined Chelsea in 2020 after working with Paul Cook at Wigan Athletic.
Now part of the Belgium national team setup too, Barry is earning quite the reputation as an exciting young coach.
Hailed as ‘top-class’ and ‘unreal’ by Ireland defender John Egan, Barry surely has a future as a manager ahead of him, and Sunderland could offer him that chance.
Manning is another top young coach at the age of just 37.
Whilst his playing career was almost exclusively in non-league football, Manning showed promise in the West Ham United coaching ranks before heading to City Football Group-owned Lommel SK in Belgium.
Now coaching Milton Keynes Dons in League One, Manning took the Dons to the League One playoffs last season and has been praised for developing young talent and playing an attractive brand of football.
Those two options are very different to Mowbray, so Sunderland face some tough decisions in the coming days.
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