Sunderland, recently relegated to Division One have just appointed former St Mirren boss Jack Ross as their new manager. Ross has been given an initial 2 year contract by new Sunderland owner Stewart Donald who completed his unlikely acquisition of the club from American billionaire Ellis Short one week ago.
Donald will be hoping that Ross will able to continue his rapid rise in the managerial ranks after a stunning spell at St Mirren which saw him named the PFA Scotland Manager Of The Year after winning the Championship in Scotland last season . This Championship success came on a very limited budget and St Mirren were noted as playing a very attractive, open and attacking style of play.
Ross replaces the ex-Wales boss Chris Coleman at Sunderland and new owner Stewart Donald had this to say about his new recruit:
“Jack is excited to be a part of the future we are building here.
“The fact he turned down lucrative offers from elsewhere, including clubs currently in a higher division than us, is testament to his commitment and desire to succeed at this club and his belief in our vision for the future.”
The Sunderland squad that returns for pre-season training on the 22nd June will likely be very different to the squad that finished bottom of the Championship in 2017-18 seasons to suffer the embarrassment of back to back relegation. Many players will need to be sold as the Club can no longer afford their contracts and replacements recruited as soon as possible. In particular former Manchester City midfielder Jack Rodwell is still picking up £70000 week in wages from the Wearside club despite playing less than 2 full games in 2017-18 seasons. However bookies have the Mackems as clear 4/1 favorites to win League 1 next season with Barnsley next best at odds of 9/1.To keep up-to-date with these odds and others check betting and odds online with Betway.
Stewart Donald completed his £40M acquisition of the football club with the help of Executive Director, Investor and PR agent Charlie Methven who is very upbeat about the Clubs immediate future and last week told the Evening Chronicle:
“The infrastructure is there, the fanbase is there, the academy is strong. These are things which cost a vast amount to put in place, the job that Sir Bob Murray did – and I’ve spoken to him a lot during this process – he did the hard bit. “Our part is being professional, clear, and executing a plan. We think we can turn it round reasonably quickly.”
The new manager will return from his summer holiday in Greece shortly and will be expected to start bringing in new faces almost immediately. However at St Mirren Ross built a team with young players dominating and the same can be expected at Sunderland with players from the Academy of Light having a much improved chance of making the first team on a regular basis. Whilst the transfer budget will not be huge it will still probably be the highest in Division One and Sunderland fans will expect Ross to spend sensibly and having done full research and due diligence on players.
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