Sunderland eyeing Austrian coach amid Will Still revelation | OneFootball

Rene Maric, the ex-Leeds United assistant who is currently a youth coach at Bayern Munich, is being linked with the Sunderland managerial role.

The news comes after links to Will Still re-emerged, but both have established a reputation as exciting young coaches in the game. It had been claimed that Maric was also of interest to Sunderland as they looked for a head coach earlier this season following Tony Mowbray’s surprise dismissal at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland's interest in Will Still of Reims was also 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.

Six months after missing out on their number one head coach target, managerless Sunderland now have a clear route to appoint Still after he left Reims, with the French outfit announcing on their official site that Still has left his role as head coach of the club. Now he will surely become a viable option.

It has been stated in the past that any club interested in Still would be required to pay around €5m compensation, but the fact he will be without a club ahead of next season means no agreement with Reims would need to be reached.

Sunderland linked to Rene Maric

Maric has become among the new favourites after intense speculation on Wearside over recent days that he might be in line to take the job this summer. Currently, he is working with Bayern Munich and has quickly established a formidable coaching and tactical reputation. He has certainly been of interest to Sunderland in the past and there are believed to have been talks now as well.

Reports from i news understand that Sunderland have also given consideration to the highly-regarded U-19, who is a former assistant of Jesse Marsch at Leeds. He now operates as the Bundesliga giants’ first ever head of coaching and playing style.

Maric was also on the shortlist in January, when Sunderland ultimately made the disastrous decision to appoint Michael Beale after receiving "glowing reports of his ability to improve players and coaching ability."

Maric has a growing reputation from a tactical point of view, and sources have informed Football League World previously that he worked with the players at Leeds on that level far more than Marsch, where he was particularly well thought of amongst the staff and squad.

Will Still and Rene Maric linked to Sunderland

The Austrian may be an exciting young coach, but the same could be said of Still, who is highly regarded as a promising tactician that is worth keeping an eye on in Europe.

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 who departs the club this summer, and perhaps Maric would be a quicker and easier appointment to make.

Both are relatively inexperienced and would represent a significant gamble, but it is also perhaps what the squad needs to guide them through as opposed to an experienced stalwart.

A swift appointment would allow for an easier summer, with whoever comes in able to assess the playing squad and hit the ground running, whereas dragging things out could see the Black Cats fall behind their Championship peers in preparation for next season.