Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman is under fire amid the Black Cats’ ongoing manager fiasco.
Sunderland sacked Michael Beale on February 19th, meaning that the Black Cats have now been without a manager for nearly four months.
Several names have been linked and some have been reportedly close to landing the job at the Stadium of Light.
Will Still reportedly agreed to become the next Sunderland manager before pulling out at the last minute, later taking the RC Lens job.
Liam Rosenior was also in talks with Sunderland, but he withdrew himself from the running amid interest from Championship rivals Burnley.
Sunderland now look set to hire a back-up option. Owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is under scrutiny for his role in the fiasco, but it’s Kristjaan Speakman who’s taking the brunt of the criticism.
Sunderland fans all say the same thing about Kristjaan Speakman
Speakman has been on stranger to criticism during his three-and-a-half years as sporting director at Sunderland.
But this current manager fiasco has tipped many Sunderland fans over the edge, with one fan saying on X: “Whatever credit Speakman had in the bank is gone.
“To give him his due, there were some clear positives some time ago, but he’s now, by his actions and/or presence, clearly a hindrance to Sunderland moving forward. Time to go.”
With another fan adding, with regards to the manager search: “How can Speakman survive this?
“Although mistakes were made prior, his downfall mainly started with the sacking of Tony Mowbray. Since then he hasn’t had a future at Sunderland, the sooner he goes the better for all parties.”
Aside from this particular criticism, many Sunderland fans are also suggesting that Sunderland are struggling to find a manager because of the job itself.
Mowbray’s exit maybe hinted at the Sunderland head coach role being a tough one to navigate with Speakman and Louis-Dreyfus largely calling the shots in the transfer market.
One supporter echoed this view, posting: “No one wants to be Speakman’s yes-man and ego massager. And if they want an opinion on transfers or team selection then their application goes straight in the bin.”
Another added: “It’s clear to me that no one (certainly no one half-acceptable) wants to work under Louis-Dreyfus and Speakman’s conditions. It’ll be a real struggle for us, next season.”
Sunderland have a very distinct model in the transfer window which heavily favours youth, and that over-reliance on youth was one of Sunderland’s downfalls last season.
“Speakman realising just how hard it is to appoint a manager once he realises all he will be is a glorified coach, with zero input on transfers and very little control over team selection,” one fan posted.