Sunderland have appointed Simon Grayson as their new manager.
Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford has told the Sunderland Echo that he is ‘over the moon’ that Sunderland have appointed Simon Grayson as their new manager.
The Black Cats saw David Moyes resign as manager just 24 hours after the end of the Premier League season, and having been relegated to the Championship, they needed to rebuild this summer.
Simon Grayson
A move for Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes fell through, but Sunderland did finally land their new manager last week, appointing Preston’s Simon Grayson as their new man.
Grayson, 47, spent over four years with North End, guiding them to two League One play-off campaigns, winning the second, and then two top half finishes on the Championship on a small budget.
The former Leeds boss has now left Deepdale in order to take up the challenge of rebuilding Sunderland, and one man who knows him very well is Jordan Pickford.
Grayson took Pickford on loan to Preston in the summer of 2015, and the goalkeeper enjoyed six impressive months in a North End shirt before being recalled by Sunderland in January 2016.
Pickford was sold by Sunderland this summer as Everton swooped to sign him, but he has now offered his thoughts on Grayson to the Sunderland Echo, admitting he is ‘over the moon’ that he has become the new Sunderland boss.
Jordan Pickford in action for Preston
Pickford has suggested that Grayson is a manager that players and fans really like, whilst he also plays an attractive brand of football – and predicts that he will be ‘great’ for Sunderland.
“I went to Preston to cross those bridges, to become the best keeper I can be,” said Pickford. “I got the opportunity to go to work with Simon and his staff there and it was a massive help for me. When I saw the appointment, I was over the moon for the club.”
“He was a man-manager and the fans really liked him as well. He plays a good style of football as well, and it’s what I think Sunderland needed, really. I think he will be great for the club,” he added.
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