Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman may have dropped his biggest hint on Will Still yet.
Sunderland recently held a meeting with the Supporters’ Collective.
The minutes from the meeting have since been released and they’ve revealed a few interesting things.
One being that Sunderland submitted lofty bids for two strikers in January, one over the age of 30 and likely to be Kieffer Moore, but ultimately seeing the bids fall short due to circumstances apparently out of the club’s control.
Elsewhere, the club’s ongoing manager search was discussed, and there was some mixed points which came to light.
Sunderland manager search rumbles on
Sunderland sacked Michael Beale last month and placed Mike Dodds in charge, with the latter having lost four of his opening five games in charge, drawing 0-0 vs QPR last time out.
The club looks set to appoint another new, permanent manager in the summer, but Sunderland fans may be concerned at reading this excerpt from the Supporters’ Collective meeting:
“In response to a question on the Head Coach appointment process, the Club highlighted the importance of the process, but referenced that it does not guarantee the right outcome.”
It won’t fill the fans with confidence, but they may take slight hope that the club could appoint Reims boss Will Still in the summer, after this excerpt was also published:
“KS [Kristjaan Speakman] felt there was little correlation to a compensation fee and future success – there are simply too many variables. Opportunities must be viable and sensible, but that does not mean the Club wouldn’t source a Head Coach currently inpost at another Club.”
Will Still linked with Sunderland
Still, 31, was linked with Sunderland before the club hired Beale, and then again as soon as the former QPR and Rangers boss was sacked.
The Belgian-English coach currently manages Ligue 1 side Reims where he’s impressed, with Still recently enrolling in his UEFA Pro License coaching course as well.
Still previously said on interest in his services:
“I prefer to be perfectly honest and completely open with everyone because it avoids rumours, it avoids the ‘someone told me that…’, it avoids innuendos that are detestable in the world of football, and I prefer to be transparent.
“I told the directors here: ‘Yeah, there are clubs that call me, there are clubs that are interested in what we do, because I’m never by myself’. I find that flattering. I think I would be stupid to not find that flattering. If people ask me, I’m not going to start lying, to make the outside world feel that I’m stressed when I’m not. That’s why I said it, especially with that humorous tone.”
Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman could be ready to splash the cash
Naturally, and understandably, it seems like Speakman and Kyril Louis-Dreyfus want to go about their managerial appointment as shrewdly as possible.
They’ve shown this before with the appointments of Alex Neil, Tony Mowbray, and Beale who were all out of work when they were hired at the Stadium of Light.
But Speakman’s comments in the meeting suggests that, whilst the club would prefer a cheaper option, paying someone like Still out of their current contract isn’t completely impossible.
Recent reports claimed that Still remains a name on Sunderland’s shortlist, along with Danny Rohl who is under contract at Sheffield Wednesday until 2025.
So given the state of affairs, and the fact that Sunderland could pocket a lot of money from player sales this summer, it looks like Sunderland would be ready to splash the cash on the right man.