"Should be on Sunderland's radar" - Fresh backing given to ex-Nottingham Forest and Swansea City candidate | OneFootball

Sunderland may look in the direction of a former Premier League manager in the summer.

On Monday afternoon, it was announced that Michael Beale had left Sunderland after just 12 games as manager. Mike Dodds, who was the interim prior to Beale being appointed, has once again assumed that position; a position that he will hold until the end of the season.

Sunderland's plan is to bring in a permanent boss in the summer, rather than making an appointment like Beale, who wasn't the club's first choice option.

Former Nottingham Forest manager Steve Cooper has been linked with the job by TEAMtalk. He was in contention for the Crystal Palace job, but, after Roy Hodgson announced that he would be stepping down from his role, Austrian coach Oliver Glasner was appointed.

Cooper got Forest promoted from the Championship to the Premier League in the 2021/22 season, and football pundit Carlton Palmer believes that this is certainly an avenue that Sunderland should be going down.

Cartlon Palmer: Cooper a good option for Sunderland

The former England international has stated that Cooper should be one of the names on the list to be Sunderland's next manager.

He said: "Steve Cooper was dismissed by Nottingham Forest, but I think he did a fantastic job there. He got them promoted from a position when he took over where they were at the basement of the Championship, and he took them to the top of the Championship, and got them promoted.

"He should be on Sunderland's radar. He's a very good manager. He's proven he can work with very little funds, and with the squad that was there.

"It is difficult, because of the situation at Sunderland, to convince someone to take the job. Yes, Mick Beale took the job because it was a job that, I felt, he had to take to get himself back into the frame after a disappointing spell at Glasgow Rangers.

"But the manager who is looking at his next role, whether it's Steve Cooper, Graham Potter, Will Still, will be looking at this situation, and they will say 'can I implement my management techniques within this football club, and be successful?' If they aren't successful, then they will struggle to get a new job afterward.

"Steve Cooper will look at this. Yes, he wants to be back in football. But he needs to have the right opportunity to implement the skills that you have to be successful."

Steve Cooper's Championship record

Unlike Beale, who had quite a limited background in managing in the Championship, before taking over as the boss at the Stadium of Light, the former Forest manager has a very strong reputation in the second tier of English football.

The Welshman took his position at his former club in September 2021. They were rock-bottom of the Championship. After eight games, they had secured just four points. From the time that the 44-year-old took over, until the end of the season, they were the best team in the league; even better than the Fulham side who finished on 90 points and had Aleksandar Mitrovic, who scored 43 goals in a single season.

The Welshman also took charge of Swansea City for two seasons (2019/20 and 2020/21), and, in that time, he averaged 1.61 points per game, as per Sofascore; Tony Mowbray only averaged 1.46 points per game in his Sunderland tenure.

Every bit of evidence points towards him being a great appointment for the Black Cats, and he's at least someone that they should give strong consideration to.