Following Sunderland’s inexplicable 6-0 loss at the hands of Bolton Wanderers last Saturday, the board immediately came to the conclusion to sack Head Coach Lee Johnson. It was a move that shocked many pundits and beat writers covering the Black Cats, as well as fans and supporters alike. For the weekend’s game against Rovers, as of Thursday, January 3, Sunderland have yet to announce who will be in charge of the club on the touchline during the game at the Stadium of Light.
Kristjaan Speakman, the Sunderland Sporting Director, spoke earlier this week about the ongoing process of finding a new head coach, as well as the reasons surrounding the termination of Johnson’s tenure at the Stadium of Light just over 13 months into his contract.
Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman…
On if sacking Lee Johnson was based on the 6-0 loss to Bolton Wanderers:
“I don’t think we want to be looking at these types of decisions around singular results. Although, it is right to say it was a significant result. We are constantly reviewing and evaluating all parts of the business, and obviously, the first team is a real focus for us. We want the team to be in a position to get promoted at the end of the season.
“We want to see results with some consistency, and when you get a 6-0 away defeat and the manner of that defeat, it is an additional topic on top of some of the other topics discussed ay executive level, at board level, and at ownership level. It’s the underlying inconsistency and the alignment to our philosophy and the way we want to play which has probably caused most concern.”
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