Sunderland won’t look back on this Championship season with much fondness when the full-time whistle is sounded against Sheffield Wednesday on the final day, with a whole catalogue of errors resulting in the Black Cats having to make do with a run-of-the-mill mid-table finish.
There were once promotion aspirations in the Sunderland camp with Tony Mowbray at the helm, before the disastrous Michael Beale took over and failed spectacularly with just four wins from his quickfire 12 games in charge.
Mike Dodds hasn’t been able to lift spirits at the Stadium of Light as an interim option either, with a dark cloud hanging over proceedings as of late with a dire defeat often coming after a promising victory.
The next appointment is a crucial one for the Sunderland hierarchy to get spot on therefore, with a number of names continuing to be linked to the pressurised job post.
Sunderland could hire fantastic Dodds replacement
Rumours earlier this year seemed to be pointing in the direction that ex-Sheffield United manager Paul Heckingbottom has a strong chance of being Dodds’ successor. The former Blades boss could potentially get stuck back into the rough and tumble of managing in the Championship after a scathing experience in the Premier League.
Heckingbottom would walk away from Bramall Lane this campaign battered and bruised, overseeing just one Premier League win from 14 in charge before being ousted by Chris Wilder.
The former Leeds United boss did manage to get The Blades up to the top flight in the first place however, with this promotion on his sketchy CV surely one reason Sunderland are eyeing him up as Dodds’ immediate replacement.
Another could well be the impact Heckingbottom had on Iliman Ndiaye at Bramall Lane, the attacking midfielder plucked out of non-league obscurity at Boreham Wood to then go on to become a star in his promotion-winning side.
The powers that be at the Wearside outfit will hope the 46-year-old can work similar magic with Jobe Bellingham if he takes over from Dodds, who has had an up-and-down time of things lately donning a Black Cats strip.
How Bellingham could perform under Heckingbottom
Heckingbottom is massively responsible for Ndiaye’s upward career trajectory, with the 24-year-old now finding himself on the books at Olympique de Marseille after tearing the Championship to pieces for the Blades.
In that promotion-winning campaign, where Sheffield United impressively finished in that coveted second automatic promotion spot, the Senegalese attacking midfielder would net 15 goals and pick up 11 assists as a stunning star for Heckingbottom’s men.
Bellingham will hope he can up his output to the same levels as Ndiaye next season if the 46-year-old does walk into the building, with the former Birmingham City youngster onto an admirable seven strikes for the campaign so far even with his side’s topsy-turvy form killing their chances at a more respectable league finish.
Heckingbottom even stuck Ndiaye up top on his own at points during that successful season, with Dodds experimenting at playing Bellingham in the same role this campaign which hasn’t always worked out.
Labelling the Birmingham youth product as “unbelievable” when speaking about what next season holds for Sunderland, Dodds will watch on from afar as to how the next manager in the Black Cats hot-seat does with the promising teenager at his disposal.
Appointing the former Blades boss could well feel like a risk, but with one of his ex-players in Wes Foderingham labelling him as “fantastic” for turning around the fortunes in South Yorkshire to jump up to the top flight, he could well do the same relocating to Wearside.
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