"A standout candidate" - Assessing whether Sunderland could turn to Will Still again: The verdict | OneFootball

This article is part of Football League World’s ‘The Verdict‘ series, which provides personal opinions from the FLW writers regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

Michael Beale's time is over at Sunderland after two defeats to Huddersfield Town and Birmingham City in recent weeks.

Sunderland sack Mick Beale

The 43-year-old took over from Tony Mowbary at the Stadium of Light back in December, and has managed just four wins from his 11 games in the Championship, with the Black Cats currently four points off the play-off places. During his 12 games in charge in all competitions, Sunderland drew a further two and lost six times.

It is understood that Mike Dodds will resume the hot-seat until the end of the season, having already had one successful interim spell in charge this season. He won two of his three games as caretaker manager following Mowbray's sacking in December, and will give the club time to consider the next appointment.

Beale was an unpopular appointment with Black Cats supporters, and he failed to win over the doubters during his two-month spell at the helm. The sacking means that he has been sacked twice in the space of just over four months, having also been relieved of his duties with Rangers in October.

Sunderland currently sit 10th in the Championship table, and they are back in action when they host Swansea City on Saturday. Dodds is in interim charge but the club have had four permanent managers in two years, and you feel that Kyril Louis-Dreyfus will have to get his next appointment right if they are to achieve their aspirations in the long-term.

Sunderland's pursuit of Will Still

Sunderland's interest in Will Still of Reims was well-documented at the time of Mowbray's departure but was quickly quashed when a report from French outlet Score.fr claimed that there was little chance of him leaving his role with the Ligue 1 outfit in December.

Here, we ask our FLW writers their verdict on whether this would be a good appointment in the long-term and if Sunderland should renew their interest in Still.

Adam Elliott

There are just under 18 months remaining on Still's current contract with Reims, securing his future with the French club until the end of next season, but also leaving him potentially vulnerable to approaches in the summer.

After guiding the club to an 11th place finish in Ligue 1 last season, the 31-year-old has now taken them to eighth place in the current French top-flight standings.

Still is a manager who is already showing just how good he can be, by exceeding his and, arguably, Reims' expectations with what he is doing for the club currently.

As a result, you feel he would have been a very promising appointment for the Black Cats back in December, and may have been able to keep them involved in the promotion race, whilst also generating a fair amount of excitement around the Stadium of Light.

He is one of the most promising young coaches in Europe, and marrying that up with the youngest squad in the second tier would be very exciting. However, there is also the question of attainability, with his stock rising all the time.

With that in mind, it does feel as though the pressure is now on Sunderland to ensure they can tie someone down quickly, irrespective of the division they find themselves in this summer.

Still would be an excellent appointment whichever league they are in, but chances are that they will not be able to secure his services unless they are promoted. The attraction to a club of Sunderland's size and stature could be tempting, though, so it's definitely worth a shot, even if they fall short of the Premier League again this season.

Alfie Burns

You've got to imagine that, given Still was on Sunderland's radar at the time they part company with Tony Mowbray, he will be someone they at least look at again.

Still's reputation in Europe is growing, and he's doing some really great work with Reims; a project that it appears has been too good to walk away from for Sunderland towards the end of 2023.

What Sunderland have done by leaving Mike Dodds in-charge, though, is given themselves time to work on appointment. It might be that they sacrifice a genuine shot at promotion in the process, but they are looking long-term and aiming to build for a better 2024/25. It gives them time to work on Still and convince him to come if he is, indeed, still of interest to them.

The likelihood is that the 31-year-old is one of many managers Sunderland will look at between now and the summer. He's a standout candidate for sure and there would be little grumbling at the Stadium of Light if they eventually brought in the Reims head coach with a long-term vision.

It's an important appointment for the club to get right, and they've given themselves the best chance of doing just that by not rushing to land Beale's replacement. That probably gives them the best chance they could possibly have of getting Still, too.