A club president has claimed that Sunderland have completely ruined their campaign after expressing interest in their manager.
Sunderland have spent much of the campaign keeping an eye on various different managerial targets.
The Black Cats were already said to be interested in Nice’s Francesco Farioli this time last year, before they were tasked with finding a permanent appointment before Christmas.
The club were heavily linked with a move for Reims manager Will Still, and reports had claimed negotiations were progressing over a move to the Stadium of Light.
However, their interest came to an abrupt end when they instead decided to appoint former Rangers and QPR coach Michael Beale.
Much to fans’ frustration, they were proven right about the club’s poor decision when Beale was sacked just 12 games later.
Sunderland are now set to bring in another replacement this summer and have continued to be linked with Still since Beale was dismissed over two months ago.
While many supporters have been very excited about the possibility of bringing the 31-year-old to Wearside, Reims’ form has gone downhill since Still has been linked.
The French outfit were fighting for European qualification when Still was first said to have interested Sunderland.
However, they have since only managed to win four games since reports emerged, which has seen them drop down to eleventh in Ligue 1, claiming two points in their last four matches.
Reims have had a ‘nightmare’ since Will Still’s exit links
Reims president Jean-Pierre Caillot has been left angered by his team’s decline in form since Sunderland held talks with his coach.
As reported by MaLigue2, Caillot said: “It’s like a nightmare. Every week we tell ourselves that we’re going to get back on track, but nothing works. We have the feeling we had a similar end to the season last year. We’re going to learn from it because we can see a number of weaknesses and things we need to improve. There’s a bit of work to be done on recruitment. We know at what point the season turned.
“He asked me what he should say at the end of the game because he was at a loss for words. What do you want me to say to him? Lately, he’s shown himself to be a great communicator. I support him because he’s my coach, full stop.”
Does this mean a move to Sunderland is on the cards?
Reims were overachieving in fighting for European football earlier in the season, so their dip in form doesn’t mean Will Still is doing badly, but it does suggest that the Sunderland links have distracted him.
The French club will be eager to get the season over and done with now and that could encourage Still to seek out a new challenge in England.
His club president is clearly eager to ‘support him’ though, which could mean he will be keen to keep hold of him, despite their poor second half to the season.
