Sunderland have been urged to appoint one manager before the end of the season.
It has been a month since Sunderland sacked Michael Beale and announced that Mike Dodds would act as interim head coach until the summer.
Supporters were delighted with the news, with Dodds having beaten Leeds United and West Brom earlier in the season.
However, things have arguably gotten worse, with the Black Cats picking up one point from a possible 13 since Beale’s exit.
The Wearside outfit still sit nine points above the relegation zone and are extremely unlikely to drop down to League One, but a bottom-half finish is looking more and more predictable.
Sunderland don’t look like they are going to pick up some wins anytime soon, and rather than waiting until the end of the season, pundit Carlton Palmer has suggested they just find a permanent replacement now.
Speaking to Football League World, the former midfielder said: “Sunderland put interim boss Dodds in after sacking the manager, and the question is, do they speed up appointing a coach?
“On 48 points, there’s no danger that Sunderland will get relegated this season, so at the end of the day, I think they should leave the manager until the end of the season, unless they can bring in the coach that they want now.
“If they can bring in the coach that they want now, then they should bring him in now to give him time to assess the squad.
“That would make more sense to me to do that if the coach they want is available now.
“If not, then wait until the summer and bring in the coach they want, they’re not going to get relegated.”
Palmer had one manager in mind for the Sunderland job, with Paul Heckingbottom still available after Sheffield United sent him packing before Christmas.
He added: “”For me, that is going to be a bit late, there is quite a few managers who are out of work at the moment, Paul Heckingbottom for one, who did an unbelievable job at Sheffield United.
“Get somebody in, assess the squad, assess what you need for next season.
“Unfortunately, it has not worked out for Dodds, I think they were hoping that it would have done and that they would be able to continue with him going into the new season, but that has not worked, and it’s now time to go to plan B.”
Should Sunderland look to Paul Heckingbottom?
While Paul Heckingbottom could well have been a positive appointment to replace Michael Beale last month, I don’t really see the point now.
I feel like it would just be a bit of a panic appointment, and realistically, he isn’t going to have much of a chance to make an impact for the remainder of the season.
We aren’t going up and we aren’t going down, so we mays well take our time to find someone suitable and someone who is accepting of the club’s model and transfer policy.
As painful as it is enduring the terrible football we are putting on week in week out, Heckingbottom isn’t going to make any difference right now and probably isn’t the manager Kristjaan Speakman wants anyway.
Let’s wait it out and look to Will Still in the summer, because he certainly seems the most exciting option for the Black Cats. It is likely that Heckingbottom will still be available at the end of the season anyway – if we decided to go down that route.