Sunderland interim manager Mike Dodds would have been overjoyed that his Black Cats team managed to pick up another win under his short-term tenure, especially beating a Leeds United team 1-0 who were unbeaten in seven matches before their clash on Tuesday night.
Jobe Bellingham’s bravery to get on the end of a header from Alex Pritchard helped the Tyne and Wear side pull off the excellent win, finding the back of the net after getting the better of Illan Meslier who was left in no-man’s land.
Dodds looks as if he’ll still be in the hot-seat for his side’s next Championship game away at Bristol City, despite background murmurs that Sunderland chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus could well have finally found Mowbray’s successor away from the interim manager.
Sunderland manager latest
Reports are suggesting that Sunderland are planning to go in all in to appoint Will Still, with the club even sitting down with the current Stade De Reims manager recently to iron out a potential move, according to football journalist Ed Aarons.
There could be various stumbling blocks in the way however to stop their pursuit of the Belgian manager getting off the ground, with Sunderland then potentially having to fish around again for a Mowbray replacement if the deal doesn’t happen.
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However, Louis-Dreyfus could just decide to upgrade Dodds to a permanent manager role to speed up the process. Directly after the enthralling Leeds win, the 37-year-old commented on the potential of whether or not his 100% current record as caretaker means he would be considered as a long-term option for the club to the Northern Echo.
Dodds stated: “As I said from the outset, whether there was a head coach here or not, I like to try and plan three or four games in advance and that’s still the case. The preparations for Bristol are in place and behind the scenes we’ll start preparing for Coventry a week on Saturday.”
Based on the two wins that have come under his successful short-term tenure to date, Dodds – who has also been given the backing of Kevin Phillips to stay at the helm until January at least – should be seriously considered for the vacancy away from Still.
Dodds’ managerial style
Praised by football journalist Josh Bunting for being “tactically brilliant” in the West Bromwich Albion and Leeds victories, Dodds does warrants such glowing words for getting the better of two stern EFL managers in Carlos Corberan and Daniel Farke as a rookie boss.
The 1-0 win on Tuesday saw Sunderland expertly soak up pressure in the game before launching forward in swarms, Dodds setting his team up in a 3-4-3 formation for the match with Daniel Ballard operating as a brick wall in the centre of a resolute back three.
The 37-year-old’s decision to stick Pritchard up top as a makeshift striker also worked, the 30-year-old helping himself to another assist under Dodds after a starring role against West Brom in his first match in charge.
Restricting Leeds to a meagre xG of 0.65 at the Stadium of Light was also very impressive, the Whites not firing a blank in a Championship contest since a 1-0 loss to Stoke City in mid October.
Dodds will remain coy over whether or not he will be installed as the next Black Cats manager in the build-up to Saturday, but if the 37-year-old can pull off a third consecutive victory in charge away at Ashton Gate this weekend, he will surely become more eager to be considered for the full-time position and optimistic he could land the role.
