Wales look good in the post-Coleman era, while the former national team boss is struggling badly at Sunderland.
Sunderland might be struggling at the bottom of the Championship, but most fans do not believe the identity of their manager to be a major problem.
While Chris Coleman has been unable to arrest his side’s slump, few supporters would like to see him depart in the summer – regardless of which division the club are playing in.
The former Fulham man was seen as somewhat of a coup for Sunderland when he arrived on Wearside, having done a good job with Wales and spoken well in his new job.
But the longer Coleman and Sunderland blunder in the second tier, the more questions will be asked of his ability as a manager.
And he has certainly not been helped by Ryan Giggs’ strong start to life in the Wales job, his side impressing at the China Cup – even in defeat to Uruguay – and continuing the fine work done by Coleman and the late Gary Speed before him.
If Giggs can walk into his first full-time job and have the side playing free-flowing attacking football just months after failing to qualify for the World Cup, that does not say a great deal for Coleman.
It is less than 12 months since Coleman was being linked with a Premier League job at Crystal Palace – commenting on the speculation, per Wales Online – but he looks a long way from that sort of job right now.
Should the Sunderland manager suffer relegation and seriously consider his future at the Stadium of Light in the coming months, he would do well to note that his stock may well have fallen over the course of the season.
That would be good news for the Black Cats if they could keep a coach that has the supporters’ trust, but they might prefer to see Coleman thriving, the club to fight off potential top-tier suitors from a more commanding position.
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