Sunderland are heavily linked with former Reims boss Will Still, who is now a free agent.
Still, 31, left Reims at the start of May, following half-a-season of links with the Sunderland manager job.
The Black Cats were keen on the Belgian-English coach after sacking Tony Mowbray in December, though Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus was unwilling to fork out a reported £4.2million compensation fee.
Sunderland then hired Michael Beale but sacked him after 12 games, placing Mike Dodds in charge until the end of the season.
Still and Reims parted ways shortly before Sunderland’s final game of the season; a 2-0 defeat at home vs Sheffield Wednesday.
But Sunderland are yet to pull the trigger on Still and fans are wondering why not, and why the club are yet to hire any other manager.
EFL regulations that apply to Sunderland and Will Still
Reims were famously paying £22,000 in fines for every game that Still oversaw and wasn’t enrolled on a UEFA Pro-License course.
Those fines stopped in March 2023, though Still is yet to complete his UEFA Pro-License course; he does, however, hold a UEFA A License.
Still has dropped snippets on his Instagram stories of him studying for his UEFA Pro License but how far away from completion that is remains unknown.
And as per official English Football League rules, ‘managers in the Championship must hold a minimum of the UEFA A License’, and they must also ‘be working towards completing the UEFA Pro-License within three years of appointment’.
EFL regulations may explain Will Still to Sunderland delay
It seems obvious by now that Still is someone who Louis-Dreyfus and sporting director Kristjaan Speakman really admire.
And everything about him suggests that he’d be a good fit for what they want; his young age, his impressive, albeit inaugural stint in management with Reims, his language skills and overall European style of coaching.
Still appears to fit the bill perfectly for Sunderland and the fact that the club are yet to hire a manager when viable candidates such as Liam Rosenior and Pau Heckingbottom have become available, suggests that Sunderland may be waiting on Still.
And it could be that they’re waiting on him finishing his UEFA Pro-License; that, or they’re waiting for him to be within three years of completion.
As per England Football Learning, completion of a UEFA Pro-License course takes 18 months. Still began his in March last year, but the fact that he was still managing Reims may mean that he’s behind in the course.
Then, taking the Sunderland job may also mean that Still has less time to study for his UEFA Pro-License, meaning that, overall, if Still were to take the Sunderland job right now, he may not have a UEFA Pro-License within three years, hence making it impossible for Sunderland to hire him at this moment in time.