"My regret" - Lee Johnson makes Sunderland AFC revelation | OneFootball

Former Sunderland boss Lee Johnson has revealed what he regrets most about his time with the Black Cats, and shared his thoughts on the club and the fans at large.

Johnson came to the Stadium of Light off the back of a lengthy spell at Ashton Gate in charge of Bristol City. He led the Wearsiders to fourth place in his first half-season as boss, but they lost in the play-off semi-final to Lincoln City.

They ended up winning promotion the season after, beating Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley to secure their return to the second tier, but it wasn't with the 43-year-old at the helm.

Alex Neil was the one to lead Sunderland to promotion, and Johnson has admitted that not being able to achieve that is something that he will always wish he could have done.

Lee Johnson's biggest Sunderland regret

Johnson revealed that his biggest regret from his time at the Stadium of Light was not being able to get promoted with the team that eventually did via the play-offs in 2022.

He said, to the Daily Mail: "I wouldn’t change my experience at Sunderland for the world. My regret was that I didn’t get to see through what would have been a promotion-winning team, but I was delighted when Alex Neil did achieve that. I love Sunderland, the fans, their songs, training ground. Everyone in the building was Sunderland through and through."

Johnson's most recent managerial post led to him being sacked by League One side Fleetwood Town who were eventually relegated to the fourth tier last season. He hasn't had a job in football since then, and he's keen to get back into working life, but he hasn't been rushing around for every and any opportunity.

"I’m really hungry to get back, that's for sure," added the ex-Black Cats boss. "And I have a point to prove. I really do believe in what I can do and the value I can add. But football is a bit like, ‘who’s hot? who’s not?’ I hope people look at the broader decade I’ve had rather than the last year.

"What I haven’t been doing this time is chasing the next job. I applied for one – that’s it, I didn’t get it, obviously! There are a lot of opportunities and angles I can take now but there’s many avenues other than management.

"I have done some advisory work for a family looking to buy a club, just a bit of squad analysis. I have been offered director of football roles in the past and that’s something I’d really enjoy, the strategic side of the game.

"But there’s no doubt coaching is my passion – it’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. The lads, the grass, the wins, the camaraderie… it’s a drug, you can’t describe it. People say, ‘Why do you do it?’. But when you win and build something special, that is amazing, you crave it."

Lee Johnson could have led Sunderland to promotion

Johnson had the club sat in third place in the third tier when him and his assistant Jamie McAllister were relieved of their duties by Kyril Louis-Dreyfus. They were comfortably in the play-off places and, even though the two sides above them had games in hand, they were close to the automatic promotion spots.

The young chairman has shown even more since then that he has a vision for what the club should look like and he will make changes to get them to that point, even if it's not readily apparent that things need to change.

Johnson averaged more points per game that season than Neil did (1.86 to 1.76), so it is well within the realm of possibility to suggest that he could have been the one to guide Sunderland to their eventual promoted position.