Sunderland may quickly have a new front runner for the job, if news coming from elsewhere in the Championship is to be believed.
Sunderland seem to have their sights set on Will Still following his Reims exit at the start of May.
The 31-year-old is a long-term target for Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, though recent reports suggest that the Black Cats are still a way off hiring their next manager.
Rene Maric is another name coming into contention whilst former Sheffield United boss Paul Heckingbottom is reportedly out of the running, then on the other side of the Steel City, Danny Rohl looks set to stay at Wednesday.
So Sunderland’s managerial shortlist may be shortening. But there might soon be a new candidate for the job in current Hull City boss Liam Rosenior.
Liam Rosenior rumoured to be facing Hull City sack
TalkSPORT journalist Alex Crook revealed on X on Tuesday morning that Hull City are set to sack Rosenior despite the club finishing the 2023/24 season in 7th.
The Tigers lost their final game of the season away at Plymouth Argyle, missing out on a spot in the top six in what is his first full season at the club.
Formerly Derby County manager, Rosenior was a full-back in his playing days, representing the likes of Bristol City, Fulham, Reading, Hull City, and Brighton.
And he’s since made a name for himself in the dugout. He describes his playing style as possession-based, and ‘expressive and brave’, with his Hull side showing in the last few weeks what they’re all about.
Although they lost at Plymouth in their penultimate game, they drew 3-3 at Ipswich Town in the game before, also beating Coventry City 3-2 away from home in the game before that.
Hull City under Rosenior liked to pass out from the back and at their best, they could score goals like this one:
Could Sunderland realistically hire Liam Rosenior
The recent update that Sunderland aren’t close to hiring a new manager yet tells us that Still or Maric or anyone else isn’t all that close to landing the job.
It may also suggest that Rosenior, if he is sacked by Hull City, could have time to regather his thoughts and take on a new challenge; admittedly not a whole lot of time, but there never is in football.
And given what would be a very harsh sacking, Rosenior may be keen to get back in the dugout as soon as possible and show the Hull City hierarchy exactly what they’ll be missing out on.
He had an immediate impact at Hull, taking over a side that were in 21st place of the Championship table at the time of his arrival and turning them into top six contenders, doing so with a very young team too; Hull this season had an average squad age of 25.3 compared to Sunderland’s 22.9.
And Rosenior also brings something else to the table. Hull City reaped their rewards in the loan market with Rosenior at the helm, bringing in names from Chelsea, Manchester City this season, and then Fabio Carvalho from Liverpool in January.
That suggests that these Premier League clubs favour Hull City and Rosenior’s style of play, so that could bode well for Sunderland who’ll no doubt consider potential options in the loan market this summer.
Rosenior then will surely be linked with any and every Championship job until he eventually lands one. He’s a bright young coach who’s been dealt a very harsh outcome at Hull City, though he and Sunderland might yet be the perfect fit.