Sunderland will hope to appoint a new manager sooner rather than later, getting this weekend's Championship fixture with West Brom out of the way before their chosen man to succeed Tony Mowbray can come in and propel the Black Cats up the division.
Mowbray's sacking does look harsh if you're an outsider casually looking in, Sunderland only three points off the playoffs, currently in ninth spot.
Yet, it's not just all about the immediate results on the pitch for the Sunderland hierarchy and more about wanting to install a manager at the club who is more aligned with the vision of the club going forward.
The Black Cats want to appoint a forward-thinking figure to match the youthful Sunderland squad, Mowbray viewed merely as a competent short-term option.
Sunderland look likely to be going down the route of appointing a left-field manager to replace the outgoing 60-year-old, with a number of unorthodox names linked to the vacancy.
Sunderland manager latest
Kieran McKenna and Will Still were reportedly the favourites amongst a long list of targets to replace Mowbray according to TEAMTalk yesterday, Sunderland's ambitions evident for all to see if they did land McKenna at the expense of Ipswich Town.
Whoever the Black Cats do go for, they will have to fit the ethos of the club outlined by chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus in a statement released after Mowbray was relieved of his duties. Wanting "sustainability and success" as a must, the 34-year-old also spoke of the importance of a "high performance culture" and a "strong playing identity" to be proud of.
Five managers Sunderland could turn to after sacking Tony Mowbray
Sunderland unexpectedly relieved Mowbray of his duties last night, with a number of managers now rumoured for the Stadium of Light vacancy.
By
Kelan Sarson
Dec 5, 2023
Mowbray must have fallen short of what the Sunderland chairman wanted, triggering him into axing the manager after an underwhelming 1-1 draw at Millwall.
Louis-Dreyfus will hope this potential name coming in as the new manager can reinvent the Black Cats and help the team gradually move up the division back into the promotion places, OGC Nice assistant manager Julien Sable among those on the club's 'shortlist' – as per talkSPORT.
Unproven as a first-team boss, Sable is, however, still a wanted man for a reason.
Julien Sable's managerial style at OGC Nice
Sable is second in command to Francesco Farioli at Nice, Farioli previously in contention for the Sunderland job in the summer when Mowbray looked likely to exit before this campaign got underway.
The Black Cats are retreading similar footsteps going after Sable, therefore, but the Nice assistant manager is worthy of credit himself.
Nice currently find themselves in second spot in Ligue 1, the French outfit extremely hard to beat and break down with only one defeat next to their name and only five goals shipped in 14 games.
This resilient and dogged approach to games will have been worked on meticulously in training behind the scenes, Sable on the training ground daily implementing this style in drills alongside Farioli.
The Sunderland hierarchy would hope that the promising 43-year-old assistant could get the best out of the attackers at the Stadium of Light too away from helping the defence become more stoic, enabling the likes of Eliezer Mayenda and Nazariy Rusyn to come out of their shell.
Sable has been a caretaker manager before in his career at Saint-Etienne, but he will want to land a permanent manager role soon and Sunderland could well give the Nice man a chance to finally shine as a boss in his own right.
With reports indicating that Still's possible compensation could be a 'stumbling block', turning to another relatively youthful coach from Ligue 1, such as Sable, could well represent an ideal alternative.
The Championship hopefuls would have to give the 43-year-old first-time boss time to adapt to English football, hoping that when things do click he can be the long-term manager they've been searching for who can help Sunderland succeed for many years to come.