MONK TO WEIGH UP CATS APPROACH
SUNDERLAND WILL HOLD TALKS WITH EX-LEEDS CHIEF AS THEY SEARCH FOR NEW BOSS
Sunderland may have to be patient if they want to make Garry Monk their new boss as they start to hold talks with managerial candidates.
Martin Bain is stepping up his search for David Moyes’ successor with Monk one of the men the Black Cats will approach over the job.
And the Echo understands that the former Leeds United chief would seriously consider an offer to succeed David Moyes in the Stadium of Light hotseat.
However, Monk is determined to weigh up all his options and has told friends he won’t dive straight back into management just for the sake of it.
Monk is out of work after resigning from the Elland Road post earlier this summer, and topped an Echo poll asking who fans wanted as Sunderland’s new manager.
Having led the Whites to within touching distance of the Championship play-offs, under difficult off-field circumstances, his stock is high, despite a troubled end to life at his maiden managerial stint at Swansea City.
And, as a result, he is
The scale of the task awaiting the new Sunderland manager cannot be underestimated.
Pre-season, transfer and contract plans may be underway but the latter two in particular will need instant and significant attention.
Time is of the essence, and so it is little wonder that the prolonged search is beginning to frustrate. After such a woeful season, uncertainty and drift was the last thing Sunderland fans needed to see.
So what is delaying the process?
The Black Cats have been insistent right from the moment David Moyes resigned that they would take their time, that an appointment of such magnitude should not be rushed.
Few would take issue with that, given how poorly Sunderland have appointed in recent years, even if the debacle that was last season owed so much to the prolonged departure of Sam Allardyce weeks before the season began.
That was out of Sunderland’s hands, but this time it is not. Despite his repeated statements that he would stay, Moyes’ resignation was no real surprise and there must have been a provisonal plan in place as to where they should go next.
The profile of the new manager desired is clear, no job for a novice, experience preferable, free agents the jackpot.
One issue is that Sunderland are operating in the same market as sides better funded, more stable and with far greater prospects for next season. That has perhaps made it difficult to chase primary targets, many of whom will be keeping an eye on developments in the Premier League.
With Crystal Palace and Southampton seemingly on the look out for a new boss, the likes of Garry Monk may be reluctant to commit to or engage seriously with a Championship side while those jobs are still open.
Those posts themselves could have a knock-on effect. Should Palace go for Sean Dyche, that would then create a job at Burnley: well resourced, stable, Premier League.
The harsh reality, that Sunderland cannot offer the backing and stability most of their rivals boast, has pushed them down the pecking order.
That is of course the kind anaylsis, offered in the hope that Sunderland are not scrambling without a clear sense of direction.
When the appointment is finally made, the identity of the new incumbent will reveal much in that regard.
Sunderland are not the only side with uncertainty hanging over them as the crucial pre-season period creeps ever closer.
They are, however, the side who will suffer the most if the process continues without resolution.
Sunderland cannot offer the backing and stability most of their rivals boast