One Sunderland figure is said to be ‘out of his depth’ amid this poor run of form.
This season has been a tale of two halves for Sunderland.
The first half of the season, albeit not as promising as last season, saw the Black Cats within touching distance of the top six, playing similarly nice football under Tony Mowbray.
But it appeared that the Sunderland hierarchy got impatient.
Owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman have since come under the spotlight for their decision to sack Mowbray and their subsequent decision to hire Michael Beale.
Beale last just 12 games in charge.
Since, Mike Dodds has overseen seven games as interim boss; winning one, drawing one, and losing five, with the last being a 5-1 defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers.
It was Sunderland’s biggest Easter Monday defeat in 65 years.
Mike Dodds Blackburn Rovers post-match press conference
Dodds is usually a very calm and collected character.
But we saw another side of him after Blackburn.
Dodds let loose in his post-match press conference, not shying away from the fact that Sunderland were dreadful on Monday, labelling the performance as ‘unacceptable’.
Dodds also revealed that some honest conversations will be had with the players in the coming days ahead of their return to action against Bristol City at the Stadium of Light on Saturday.
But the Sunderland boss has also come under scrutiny of late; Dodds was criticised for his substitutions against Blackburn.
A common theme emerging with Dodds is changing the side, no less after the 2-0 win vs Cardiff City which saw Sunderland looking as good as they have in the whole of 2024.
Mike Dodds ‘out of his depth’ at Sunderland, says Marco Gabbiadini
Now speaking on Total Sport, BBC pundit and former Sunderland favourite Marco Gabbiadini gave his verdict on Dodds.
He said:
“I actually feel pity for Mike Dodds which is a really sad position to be in, because he’s out of his depth. I know he had a couple of wins last time, but look; with a team that was playing the way it was when we sacked our manager [Beale], would could get results. But the deficiencies in this squad, which isn’t Mike Dodds’ fault, are absolutely massive, and we are being shown up at the moment, and we will continue to do [be shown up] for the rest of the season.”
A crucial run-in for Mike Dodds
Takin the interim job for a third time, Dodds was somewhat on audition between now until the summer.
Dodds was tipped to have a chance of landing the permanent Sunderland job as the hierarchy weighed up their options.
But after this poor run of form and the poor performances to match, Dodds faces a contested spell between now and the end of the season.
It still seems likely that he’ll be kept on under the new boss, though Speakman revealed in the latest Supporters’ Collective meeting that their next boss would likely be allowed to bring in their own coaching team.
So that could prompt a change for Dodds who seems eager to cut his teeth in management, but who might have to drop well down the ladder to be given his chance.
Sunderland face Bristol City in the Championship on Saturday.