European coaches in the frame for Wearside top job
WITH Mike Dodds’ interim stint at Sunderland AFC over, the rumours continue to circulate on Wearside as to who will fill the vacant head coach role, which has been without a permanent suitor since Michael Beale’s sacking back in December after only 12 games in charge during a carcrash appointment.
After the sacking of Beale’s predecessor Tony Mowbray, the Black Cats’ campaign went on a disappointing downward spiral, culminating in an unfathomable 16thplaced finish.
As such, the pressure is on the Wearside hierarchy to get the next appointment absolutely correct, and rejuvenate the supporters’ optimism for next season after such a dreadful six months at the Stadium of Light.
Two names circulating the rumour mill are those of former Reims boss Will Still, who has been linked consistently with Sunderland since Mowbray’s departure.
As well as Still, Bayern Munich under-19s boss Rene Maric has been another name present within those conversations, with the 31-year-old highly rated as a coach within German football.
Here, we examine both of these head coaches linked with Sunderland, their football philosophies, tactics and experiences in the game amid the Black Cats’ search for Dodds’ successor.
Experience and history
Belgium-born Still rose to footballing stardom – from virtual football manager as a youngster, to being on the touchline in the French topflight as the youngest ever head coach in Europe’s top-five leagues.
Still had years of experience as video analyst for Belgian pro league sides, before taking over as Stade de Reims head coach in October 2022 following the sacking of Oscar Garcia, who Still was assistant to.
Reims were fined 25,000 euros initially for every game Still managed, due to him then not having completed the required coaching badges, but the Ligue 1 outfit were happy to fork out for the fines.
The 31-year-old started his Reims tenure with an unbeaten 17-game streak, setting a new league record
and catching the attention of the footballing world for his remarkable story.
Still departed Reims recently, leaving his side, who are financially ill-equipped to compete with the likes of Paris St-germain and Monaco, 12th in the table after a lacklustre campaign.
Similarly to Still, current Bayern under-19s boss Maric is a coach with an extensive career in the game despite also being only 31.
As a young coach in his native Austria, he caught the attention of former Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel when he was at German top-flight side Mainz, due to Maric’s football blog ‘Spielverlagerung’ – which
shared tactical analysis in long-form articles. His work was also appreciated by then top Austrian side RB Salzburg’s under-18s head coach Marco Rose, who recruited Maric as his assistant. In their first season together, RB Salzburg won the UEFA Youth League in 2017, beating PSG and Manchester City in the process.
Maric would assist Rose at Bundesliga giants Borussia Monchengladbach and Borussia Dortmund, before joining fellow Red Bull disciple Jesse Marsch at Leeds in 2022 as his number two.
Maric would depart after the Whites sacked Marsch in their topflight relegation campaign.
Bayern Munich recruited Maric in 2023, to be responsible for coaching development and playing philosophy,’ and was promoted to under-19s boss in early February.
He has guided the Munich youngsters to five wins and five defeats in his first 10 outings as head coach.
Playing style
Both head coaches prefer their teams to play on the front foot, looking to dominate possession and score goals with fluid attacking play, something that Sunderland supporters have been crying out for since Mowbray’s shock sacking.
The former Reims boss would use a very similar system to Mowbray in terms of formation and style, with his favoured 4-2-3-1 set-up bringing the best out of dangerous widemen Jack Clarke and Patrick Roberts.
Still has set Reims up similarly, and wants to be direct in attack with numbers. Given Sunderland have notched 16 fewer goals this season compared to last, it would indicate that if Still were to be employed by the Black Cats hierarchy, this return to the attractive football seen under Mowbray would follow.
Maric, however, is slightly different in terms of tactics, with the Austrian drawing some elements from the ‘Red Bull model’ of fast-paced, aggressive football with a lesser focus on dominating possession.
However, the Bayern man draws inspiration from the old-school Barcelona style, with his emphasis on keeping the ball.
“My ideas about possession are very different to old-school Red Bull.
I am a big fan of Barcelona and Ajax and that style of football,” Maric told Sky Sports.
“Players love to play with the ball, that’s why we start playing football as children.
“That conviction has stayed with me and is very clearly different to Red Bull. I want my teams to have possession of the ball. I want width, patience, and control. That is dominance.”
This possession-oriented style would benefit the Black Cats, with the depth of technical ability in the squad, and suit their prowess on the ball to play Championship rivals off the park.
In truth, both Still and Maric lack the years of experience coaching that a Mowbray or Paul Heckingbottom – another head coach linked with the Black Cats job – does.
However, both have years in the dugouts of European clubs and have serious coaching pedigree in contemporary football.
Both highly rated coaches have their own footballing philosophies, and could be just the ticket to revive optimism and results on Wearside after such a disastrous campaign.
Sporting director Kristjaan Speakman and the Sunderland hierarchy must get the next appointment of Black Cats boss unequivocally correct if they are to become serious Premier League promotion contenders once again.