- EXCLUSIVE from Graeme Bailey
Sunderland are keen on hiring Will Still as their new manager, HITC understands.
Sources have told HITC that Sunderland‘s first choice to be their next head coach is English sensation Will Still.
Sunderland tried and failed to strike a deal for the Stade de Reims manager earlier this season when they parted company with Tony Mowbray.
Sunderland sack Michael Beale as manager
The Black Cats sacked Mowbray in December and appointed former Rangers boss Michael Beale as his replacement.
Things did not work out for the former Queens Park Rangers manager at the Stadium of Light. On Monday, Sunderland decided to sack him after just two months.
Beale was in charge of the Black Cats for just 12 games. He lost six of them, including a 3-0 defeat to rivals Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light in the FA Cup in January.
Sunderland have installed Mike Dodds as interim manager of the first team until the end of the season.
Sunderland keen on hiring Will Still
The Black Cats, who are aiming to win promotion from the Championship to the Premier League, are going to use this time to assess their options, but HITC has been told that Still is the man they want to take over the helm at the Stadium of Light.
However, getting Still this season was not practical given Stade de Reims’s current form in Ligue 1. They are eighth in the Ligue 1 table at the moment with 31 points from 22 matches, just seven points behind fourth-placed Lille. Still would not consider leaving at this point.
Still is just 31. He was born to and brought up by English parents in Belgium and has been making headlines for a while.
The Englishman took over from Oscar Garcia on October 13, 2022 as the head coach of Reims and led them to 17-game unbeaten run in the league.
Reims finished 11th in the Ligue 1 table last season and are very likely to fare better this time this time around.
One of the most intriguing things about Still, who is said to be a West Ham United fan, is that his introduction to football came after he spent hours on the computer game Football Manager.
Newcastle United manager Eddie Howe is a big fan of Still, and while noting similarities between his journey in football management to that of the Reims boss, he raved about his English compatriot.
ChronicleLive quotes Howe as saying about Still in March 2023: “He has certainly done very well. It is very difficult to do at that age.
“I started at 31, I felt at that moment I knew what I was doing. I am talking about my own experiences here. I realised a few years later that I probably didn’t. I have learned as I have gone on, the whole of range of things you need to be successful as a manager.
“That’s just my journey. I’m not sure on Will’s background and how he’s built his career to this point but very impressive to be managing at his age.
“The success he’s had has been incredible. Are managers getting younger? I’m not sure if that’s a fact or not. But certainly it is a very demanding job.”
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