Reasons to stay at this club are huge..but I won’t hang around if it’s pointless
COLEMAN SAYS HE’LL BE HONEST ON HIS FUTURE
CHRIS Coleman insists he wants to stay at Sunderland regardless of the club’s relegation fate – as long as he is not facing a ‘pointless’ situation this summer.
Whether Sunderland survive in the Championship or, as is increasingly likely, slip into League One, the Black Cats boss is gearing up for a long summer of rebuilding work.
With owner Ellis Short desperate to sell the club, Coleman is hoping that a takeover will reinvigorate the club with the new owner willing to invest in the team on the field, which will in turn bring the disillusioned fans back on board.
But until the club’s ownership situation is resolved, Coleman is having to plan for three different scenarios – one in which a saviour steps in willing to spend, one in which a new owner does not offer significant funds for a squad overhaul, and one in which Short remains in charge and makes no money available.
“It’ll be a long summer,” said Coleman.
“We’ve got to plan in three different directions, unfortunately.
“Normally in a club job I know what cloth I’m cutting, how much money I’ve got to spend, what I might lose, all that.
“At the moment we don’t know whether it will be Ellis or a new owner, who might want to spend or not. “We don’t think Ellis is going to inject any more cash, there’s all these different scenarios. “I do want to be here, planning it, doing it. It’ll be a long summer of rebuilding, I hope. “But as much as I want to manage this club of course there are certain scenarios where you say, it is pointless, I can’t affect it. “Whoever comes or doesn’t, I might have to say, ‘I can’t do that,’ and I’ll be open and honest about it to everybody. I’ll say, ‘that’s why I couldn’t agree to that, why I don’t believe in it.’
“But these things are like that [small] compared to the reasons for me wanting to stay at this club, rebuild, regardless of the league.”
Having taken Wales to the semifinals of Euro 2016, Coleman has not been short of offers to take up a TV punditry role for this summer’s World Cup in Russia.
But the situation at Sunderland is such that he cannot afford to focus on anything but the task in hand on Wearside.
“I can’t get involved this summer, there’s just too much to do here,” he said.
“There is a massive rebuilding job to do, and I need to concentrate on that. If you see me on TV at the World Cup, it means I am out of a job!”
I can’t get involved this summer ... if you see me on TV at the World Cup, it means I am out of a job! Chris Coleman