December 30, 2024

Sunderland manager target seen at play-off final after holding talks with Championship rival

One of Sunderland’s main manager targets has been spotted at the Championship play-off final.

Leeds United and Southampton have come together to battle it out for a place in the Premier League this weekend.’

The Whites missed out on automatic promotion but earned themselves a place at Wembley after thrashing Norwich City in the semi-finals.

Sunderland caretaker Mike Dodds 'relaxed' for first game in charge since  Tony Mowbray's sacking | ITV News Tyne Tees

The Canaries went onto sack David Wagner, which was bad news for Sunderland as it resulted in them holding talks with Will Still.

The former Reims coach has been linked with a move to the Stadium of Light since before Christmas, but the club were yet to appoint him, weeks after the season came to an end.

Following news that Still had spoken to Norwich, it was then reported that the 31-year-old looked ‘increasingly unlikely’ to join Sunderland.

Things have gone quiet since and it now remains unclear who will replace Mike Dodds, while Still still has a number of clubs that he could end up at over the next few months.

Despite his busy search for a new club, Still has taken time out to attend today’s Championship play-off final.

Will Still in attendance at the Championship play-off final

The coach took to Instagram to publish a photo at the match, insisting that he wasn’t joining either club.

Still wrote: “No I’m not about to sign for or supporting any of these two clubs.”

Rangers Confirm Michael Beale as Manager | Rangers Football Club

Will Still is likely to travel around England as more clubs begin to take interest in him.

The coach has been very highly-rated since his early success at Reims and had already been linked with West Ham.

Have Sunderland left it too late to swoop for Will Still?

Sunderland were handed the opportunity to lure him in before the season ended, having sacked Michael Beale way back in February.

The Black Cats failed to take that opportunity though and now the longer they wait, the more likely Still is to become tempted by another club.

The Wearside outfit could face competition from the likes of Burnley, Norwich and Hull now, all of whom are likely to be battling for promotion and could offer Still plenty more control and money in the transfer window.

It’s another terrible handling of the situation by Sunderland, who really don’t look any closer to appointing a new manager.

Reims' Belgian head coach Will Still looks on during the French L1 football match between FC Nantes and Stade de Reims at the Stade de la Beaujoire...

All that can be taken from Still’s Instagram story though is that he is becoming frustrated that he is constantly linked with different clubs.

If fans are trying to be positive, then they can hope that this means that maybe he isn’t going to be joining Norwich at all. However, usually bad news stays as bad news on Wearside.

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