Former Sunderland man Darren Williams has picked his ‘favoured’ next Sunderland manager.
Sunderland are edging closer to appointing their next manager, though who it will be remains anyone’s guess.
There’s lingering speculation that 31-year-old Will Still will land the job after leaving Reims at the start of May, whilst Rene Maric has been tipped to be out of the running as things stand.
And it looks like Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl is also out of the reckoning with rumours of a new contract for him in South Yorkshire.
Elsewhere, we could see more names like Liam Rosenior potentially come into the running, with clubs in the English Football League and abroad bound to be making some managerial changes in the near future.
But former Sunderland player Williams, who made more than 200 appearances for the Black Cats between 1996 and 2004, believes that owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus should look elsewhere.
Darren Williams wants Paul Heckingbottom at Sunderland
Former Sheffield United and Leeds United boss Paul Heckingbottom was reported to be the club’s no.1 target ahead of the summer, but contrasting reports then said that the 46-year-old was no longer being considered by the club.
Speaking on Total Sport though, Williams believes that former Sunderland academy player Heckingbottom could be the right man for the Black Cats.
Williams said: “He’s a former player who was at Sunderland when he was younger, when I was there, and Paul’s doing well in and around the Championship.
“And you think, a lad who’s been there [Sunderland], knows the club, knows what the club’s about, would he come in stamp his authority a bit? Would he be able to get his message across to the players, and get the players playing for him? Potentially, yeah.”
Asked if Heckingbottom would be his ‘favoured’ appointment at Sunderland, Williams said: “Probably, yeah.”
The problem that Sunderland now have
Sunderland have long seemed set on hiring a young and exciting coach like Still, and now, if they don’t hire someone like that, or of course Still himself, then it may not go down too well with the fans.
Sunderland fans seem to be mostly in favour of the club hiring an innovative coach and one with new ideas.
The idea of another Tony Mowbray coming in, whilst maybe comforting, doesn’t suggest that the club has much in the way of long-term ambitions.
And although Heckingbottom is a proven coach and a safe pair of hands, it seems as though the Black Cats hierarchy want to roll the dice and take a punt on a manager who could either be extremely successful, or not.
Still showed at Reims that he has the nouse to defy the odds, but he also showed maybe a degree of immaturity in the way he handled himself amid links to Sunderland.
There’s risk involved with every manager, though some obviously come with less risk, like Heckingbottom who’s tried and tested.
But whether the Sunderland board are keen on simply a safe pair of hands remains to be seen, if not unlikely.