Confirmed: Ex-Rangers man joins Sunderland | OneFootball

Sunderland have confirmed the appointment of former Rangers boss Graeme Murty as the club’s new ‘head of professional development phase’.

That is according to a statement released by the Championship club this afternoon, which also outlined one of the responsibilities of Murty.

The statement read: “Sunderland AFC is delighted to confirm the appointment of Graeme Murty as the Club’s new Head of Professional Development Phase.”

“Arriving at the Academy of Light with a wealth of experience, Murty’s professional playing and coaching career has spanned almost three decades and part of his role as PDP lead will be to oversee SAFC’s Under-21 outfit.”

Murty had a professional playing career spanning 17 years before hanging up his boots, with spells at York City, Reading, Southampton and Charlton Athletic.

Since then, he had spells as assistant youth development coach at Southampton, and Norwich City under-18’s head coach.

The 47-year-old also spent time at Scottish giants Rangers, becoming their development squad head coach back in 2016 and becoming full time first team manager at Ibrox for the remainder of the 2017/18 season after two spells in charge as interim boss.

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Speaking as part of the statement released by Sunderland, Murty sounded like he was delighted to be back involved after time away from the game.

“I’ve been out the game for a little while, but I can’t wait to get started and get back on the training pitch working with the team.” the 47-year-old said in the statement.

“Everyone at the Club has been very welcoming and I’m looking forward to building on the foundations that have already been put in place to help to ensure our Under-21s continue to progress.”

The Verdict

This is a really interesting appointment by Sunderland.

Murty clearly has a lot of pedigree when it comes to roles in youth football and as such, you do feel he can succeed at the Stadium of Light.

It’s also great to see Sunderland appointing a strong candidate in an important role in terms of development, at the club.

Plenty of academy graduates have made the jump up to the first team in recent years and the hope will be that Murty can come in and continue to aid and contribute positively to that process.