Where do Sunderland go from here - a Warnock, a McCann, a Keane or a Carrick?

Michael Graham
31 January 2022

Neil Warnock, Grant McCann, Roy Keane, Michael Carrick - Sunderland manager links

The Black Cats are in the familiar position of picking yet another new manager after sacking Lee Johnson. Sunderland fan Michael Graham takes a look at the directions they could take.

Sunderland fans are in the familiar position of watching and waiting as their club search for a new manager after Lee Johnson's sacking.

On the face of it, Johnson's sacking looks harsh. One look at the League One table will tell you Sunderland are sitting third, just two points behind leaders Rotherham. The top two have games in hand, though.

However, things are far from rosy on Wearside after a, frankly, weird campaign that has been riddled with bizarre and borderline unbelievable inconsistencies, so this is where we are.

With that in mind, let's take a detailed look at the now pretty much annual Sunderland managerial search and assess the various options they have moving forward.

The state of play and what went wrong for Johnson

The first thing to note is that this is far from a crisis for Sunderland. If anything, Johnson has been sacked proactively in an attempt to avert a crisis.

The second thing to note is that while it looks harsh on Johnson from the outside, there are plenty of good reasons for his sacking.

Sunderland were walloped 6-0 by Bolton on Saturday and it's by no means the first time something like that has happened this season. They also lost 4-0 at Portsmouth and 5-1 at Rotherham.

Furthermore, they have twice let wins slip through their fingers away from home against ten men, and failed to see out what would have been a huge win at Wycombe in injury time.

That soft underbelly, particularly away from home, is undermining what is a very talented squad at Sunderland and crippling their promotion bid - and it is something the club obviously lost faith in Johnson to fix.

The question now moves to, not necessarily who replaces him, but what direction they want to take for the rest of the season and beyond, and there are plenty of options.

The veteran option

There is a reason why managers like Neil Warnock and Mick McCarthy keep getting jobs, and the reason is clubs like Sunderland.

Grizzled veteran managers who are a safe pairs of hands offer far more reliability than excitement. However, for some clubs there inevitably comes a point when things have been so chaotic that solid and predictable starts to become a little seductive.

There are, it is important to acknowledge, two conflicting arguments here that are as credible as each other.

Firstly, Sunderland are married to a director of football model where the transfer policy is largely separate from the coaching. It's obviously quite hard to see on old-school manager fitting into that.

However, there is another perspective that is, if anything, even more compelling. Sunderland do not need much. There is a very talented squad there for League One, especially in attacking areas, and they are right in among the race for automatic promotion as things stand.

Perhaps they need an injection of solidity in the short term to get them over the line and out of League One, and then the time to start building towards something more long-term begins in the Championship.

Examples: Mick McCarthy, Neil Warnock

The 'done it before' option

This option has been thrust further into the spotlight by Grant McCann, the man who led Hull to the League One title last season, suddenly becoming available.

Let's get something clear immediately here: A club the size of Sunderland should never be in League One, never mind there for a fourth season. They have an average attendance of 30,086 this season - at arguably the lowest point in their entire history.

If you are wondering how that compares to clubs in the Championship, it is better than every single one of them. In fact, it's higher than a quarter of the Premier League.

However, the fact is that they are in League One and must play the hand they have as well as they possibly can, not the one they want. That means a manager who has proven he can succeed at that level could well be a sound choice, even if it doesn't satisfy the fans' craving for something more ambitious.

The problem here is that Sunderland have been there before. Phil Parkinson, on paper, looked like a really solid 'been there, done that' choice. He had got two sides promoted to the Championship, was available, and fell squarely inside a League One budget.

It was a disaster.

There is also the question of the expectations on Wearside. No one can accuse Sunderland fans of lacking in patience after maintaining an average attendance of more than 30,000 in every League One season they have been allowed to attend.

That patience is understandably running out now, and appointing another manager whose successes lie only in League One may be perceived by fans as the club accepting it as all they deserve.

Examples: Grant McCann, Paul Cook

The Championship merry-go-rounders option

Another option is to look a little higher for a manager who tends to operate at Championship level, and there are some decent names there that are currently available.

Alex Neil has got Norwich promoted twice, once after taking over midway through a season, and Chris Hughton also has multiple promotions to his name. Both are currently out of work.

The difficulty may be persuading managers of that ilk to drop down into League One. After all, their reputations have already taken a battering in their previous jobs, so they may see it as too much of a risk - especially with such a trigger-happy club as Sunderland.

A halfway house solution could be to agree to a deal until the end of the season for all parties to evaluate each other further. It would be a free hit for both.

Examples: Alex Neil, Chris Hughton, Garry Monk

The unheard of up-and-comer option

When it comes to appointing managers, there really isn't much that Sunderland haven't tried yet at this point.

They have done tried-and-tested with Martin O'Neill, grizzled European veteran with Dick Advocaat, they have tried 'fallen from grace' in David Moyes. That's just a small selection too.

One thing they haven't tried is going for a promising coaching upstart looking for his first big break in management.

It is a path plenty of League One clubs go down, with Ipswich doing just that recently by appointing former Manchester United youth coach Kieran McKenna.

You'd probably class it as 'high-risk, high reward' in terms of strategy as with all the due diligence in the world it is still a total leap of faith.

However, Sunderland director of football Kristjaan Speakman is high on developing talent and Sunderland have the youngest owner in the country in 24-year-old Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, so they seem the type who would be more likely to back youth than most.

Examples: If I'd heard of them, they'd not count anyway

The big-name former player option

It feels like we had a bit of a lull ten years ago with regard big-name former players going into management.

They seem to be very much in-vogue again now, though, with Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney all making their mark in management.

Their success is sure to open the door for others who want to make the leap, and there are one or two names that may tempt Sunderland.

John Terry has made it clear he wants a shot at management, and he is easily a big enough personality to not be overawed by the pressure cooker that is Sunderland.

Michael Carrick is another who has spoken of his desire to go it alone, and the former Manchester United caretaker boss is a north-easterner too which may make a move appeal to both him and the club.

Of course, for every Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard there is a Sol Campbell or Gary Neville (sorry Gary), but it's a path Sunderland have trodden before with success so you never know.

Examples: John Terry, Michael Carrick, John O'Shea

The nostalgia option

Fans of every club love a bit of nostalgia, and given how much they have suffered you can't blame Sunderland fans for being led by their hearts and good memories.

Their love of Jermain Defoe is testament to that and the club have responded by attempting to bring the former England star back for one last dance this season.

There are a couple of managers who could look appealing right now too. Sam Allardyce is the main one, but unless he has a far greater emotional connection to Sunderland than we think - or they have a lot more money than we suspect - that one isn't happening.

Perhaps Roy Keane could be a tempting option though. Keane has breezed into Wearside before and got the Black Cats promoted and he has said himself that he "feels like he should still be Sunderland manager".

Gus Poyet was also reportedly offered the job before Lee Johnson took it, and he is still well-liked on Wearside after guiding them to a cup final.

Kevin Phillips has often been linked with a coaching return to the club, but he has just taken his first managerial job at non-league South Shields.

Sunderland have generally resisted nostalgic appointments in their recent history, with Bob Stokoe's brief return in the 1980s the only real example, but it could provide the kind of unifying lift the fanbase need right now.

Examples: Roy Keane, Gus Poyet, Sam Allardyce