A manager previously linked with Sunderland has now landed a Premier League job.
Sunderland remain without a manager. But clubs around them are making appointments.
The likes of Norwich City sacked David Wagner soon after falling out of the Championship play-offs, then appointing Johannes Hoff Thorup less than two weeks later.
Hull City have also sacked and hired a new manager since the end of the season, whilst Plymouth Argyle have done the same.
Sunderland though sacked Michael Beale on February 19th; more than four months has now passed since the club last had a permanent manager in place.
Managers continue to be linked with the job before falling out of the race; Will Still and Liam Rosenior are the two main names in that category, though there’s many more who had fleeting links to the job.
One such name was Steve Cooper, and he’s now landed a new job in the Premier League, which will unlikely come to the surprise of Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, nor sporting director Kristjaan Speakman.
Leicester City appoint Steve Cooper as manager
Cooper, 44, is best known for guiding Nottingham Forest to promotion from the Championship in 2022, after previously guiding Swansea City to back-to-back top six finishes in the second tier.
When Sunderland sacked Beale, Cooper was out of work following his Forest exit in December 2023, and it was revealed to Sunderland AFC News that the Sunderland board were admirers of Cooper.
Cooper though was thought to be holding out for a job in the Premier League, and now he has one with Leicester City hiring the Welshman.
Leicester become another team to lose and replace a manager in the time that Sunderland have been searching for Beale’s successor.
The Foxes lost Enzo Maresca to Chelsea at the start of this month but have now hired Cooper on a three-year deal.
Steve Cooper to Leicester City maintains Sunderland trend
It’s certainly a very worrying time for Sunderland fans right now, with the players returning for pre-season in less than two weeks.
With no manager in place, the Black Cats will surely be set back in their pre-season preparations and in many of their transfer plans too.
And the fact that clubs like Norwich City, Hull City, Plymouth, and Leicester City have all lost or sacked managers, and quickly replaced them, suggests how far behind the competition Sunderland are right now.
It doesn’t bode well for the 2024/25 season ahead. There’s a huge air of uncertainty and a lack of planning at the Stadium of Light, and the more managers like Cooper who Sunderland miss out on, the further down the list that the Sunderland officials have to go.