Sutton’s warning to McInnes over Cats
Chris Sutton has warned Derek McInnes that Sunderland are a club ‘in a mess’.
The Aberdeen boss is a strong contender for the vacant post at the Stadium of Light,thecurrentfrontrunner with the bookmakers.
Sunderland are interested in the 45-year-old after his fine rebuilding job at Pittodrie, the Dons narrowly beaten by Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final on Saturday.
McInnes himself is keen on the post but speaking before that game, outspoken pundit Sutton warned that the move may not be wise.
He said: “The managerial position is also under scrutiny with the links to McInnes and Sunderland. I can understand why the Black Cats would be interested in him – but I’m not sure what there is to interest McInnes going there,” Suttton wrote in the Daily Record.
“On the face of it, Sunderland looks great. The chance to play in front of 40,000-plus crowds and get a big club moving in the right direction on a massive salary sounds appealing.
“But dig below the surface and you might see something different. The club is a mess. David Moyes left because he had no money to spend, the best players could be leaving and the squad is going to be stripped for the start of the next season.
“There are also issues over the future of chairman Ellis Short and a possible change at the top. It might be more trouble than it’s worth.”
Brendan Rodgers, however, said on Friday that McInnes would be perfect for the job: “He is absolutely perfect for it, As soon as I saw that [speculation] this week, I thought to myself ‘he’s a really good fit’.
““It’s a big club that has had a change and now needs someone who can go in there and can organise, someone who has been at a big club.
“Derek has been at big clubs.
“He played at Rangers, he has been down in England before, so he understands it.
“He’s done a great job with Aberdeen, which is a big club. “He would be perfect for it. “He would go in, give them a bit of life, get them organised.
“He knows the game, he can engage with players, he can motivate players, and the Championship is a tough league.
“I got promoted there with Swansea and it is 46 games of graft and work and commitment. It would be brilliant for him if that is what he wanted to do and certainly for a club of that magnitude he would be perfect.”