‘My brief here is to do a good job, not sell the club’
“Stewart and the owners have been very straightforward, they keep me in the loop with any developments and that’s all I can ask for.”
Rodwell had been CEO at Scunthorpe United for five years and it was his role as EFL director during that period that first brought him into contact with Donald and the Sunderland ownership.
Donald and Charlie Methven did not replace Martin Bain after his departure in the early stages of their tenure, believing it was not a necessary role given their hands-on approach to running the club.
Rodwell believes that view changed earlier this year, and says a series of presentations in which he outlined the ‘processes’ he believes can help improve the club were key to landing the role.
“I’ve kind of known Stewart since he bought the football club,” he said.
“That’s where I first came across him as I was on the board of the EFL of the time. They were buying a League One club football club and I was the league’s representative at the time, so I knew him and had spoken to him over the phone.
“We spoke a few times on League One issues and I was at both of the finals last season.
“We started talking probably a little bit more seriously probably before Easter of this year.
“Stewart called me about a couple of things and we got to talking, about potential sales and people at the table.
“Then just before Easter I think he decided he really wanted to get focused on the club and trying to run it probably in a more viable and sustainable way.
“I think he felt he needed someone up here every day to run the football club, add leadership, someone with a plan and their own thought processes as well.
“We had a bit of a process around that Easter period, we had a lot of conversations, I wrote some presentations that I presented virtually to get my thoughts and ideas across.
“Everything then came together quite quickly.
“The board had a chat about it, I think they had spoken to some other candidates, and eventually they offered me the role, which was a very easy decision for me.
“I’d had other opportunities while at Scunthorpe, but Scunthorpe was good for me, the owners were great and let me get on with running the football club.
“I was also on the board of the EFL and the FA which took up time but it became evident to me that after Scunthorpe’s relegation that I needed a new challenge, they probably felt the same.
“I spoke to other clubs in that period, some in the Championship, but nothing got me quite as excited as Sunderland.”
Despite the possible change of ownership on the horizon, Rodwell insists it is not his brief to prepare the club for a sale.
He does believe, however, that he can help make the club a better prospect for the years ahead.
“That’s not my brief at all,” he said.
“But it’s interesting when you look at what ‘prep for a sale’ actually means.
“The way that I see that you prep Sunderland for a sale is to make it successful, make it more viable.
“It’s more attractive as a viable business in the Championship, and it is even more attractive as a viable business in the Premier League.
“So if doing a good job and running the business effectively is prepping for a sale, then you could look at it that way.
“But my brief is to come here and do a good job, not to sell the club.
“The sale isn’t really something that I am preoccupied with, I’m more interested in doing a good job.”