A former Sunderland player has outlined his interest in potentially managing the club one day.
Sunderland are without a manager after sacking Michael Beale in February.
Beale boasts the second-shortest stint of any Sunderland manager ever, following a 12 game tenure which saw him claim four wins.
His record wasn’t terrible, but the football and the mood amongst supporters during the Beale era was.
Mike Dodds has since struggled to get this team firing again.
He’s taken just one win from seven games in charge with the last being a 5-1 defeat at home to Blackburn Rovers on Easter Monday.
Sunderland manager latest
The latest on the Sunderland manager front is that Paul Heckingbottom is the club’s no.1 target ahead of the summer.
It’s said that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus views the former Sheffield United boss as a top target for the vacant manager’s job, with separate reports claiming that Heckingbottom would be interested in taking charge of Sunderland.
Elsewhere, Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl has been shortlisted by Sunderland.
Names like Will Still and Steve Cooper remain in headlines.
Former Sunderland star shares interest in job
Now though, a former fan favourite at Sunderland has thrown his hat in the ring, Jermain Defoe.
The now 41-year-old scored 37 goals in 100 total appearances for the Black Cats.
He played for the club between 2015 and 2017 and then again for a brief period in 2022 when Sunderland were in League One.
Defoe is studying for his UEFA A and Pro license after obtaining his UEFA B license last year.
And speaking now to We Are Sunderland, Defoe has revealed his interest in one day managing Sunderland.
He said when asked about the job:
“Why not. Even when I was a player, I always used to say I’d love to manage this club. I don’t know if other players are like that, if other players have a relationship with fans and a club and think they’d love to manage this club.”
Defoe later added:
“But if I got a phone call from Kristjaan [Speakman] or Kyril [Louis-Dreyfus], get me my suit, get me my whistle and let’s go and win games. It’s as simple as that. These are my people. I know.”
Defoe recently opened a football academy on Durham, potentially strengthening his ties to Sunderland and the north-east.
Jermain Defoe declares interest in Sunderland job
Defoe is a well-liked character, not only at Sunderland, but seemingly with every club he represented.
And it looks like he’s certainly keen on one day becoming a manager, but right now he’s lacking experience.
He’s worked with Spurs in their academy before and so he’s making his initial steps, but his first step into management should arguably be with a club much further down the pyramid than Sunderland.
The Black Cats have huge ambitions and huge potential.
Not only that but the owners need to really nail this next appointment and so it looks set to be a big name, an experienced name or at least a favoured name among fans.
Heckingbottom and Still seem to be the two most-wanted candidates among fans right now, Still perhaps more so.
Whilst Defoe is a legend on Wearside, there’d be huge doubts about his ability as a manager if he were, on what seems to be a very rare chance, handed the Sunderland job.
But Defoe certainly seems to be a former football to keep an eye on in management.
