Sunderland’s hunt for a new manager continues, Tony Mowbray was dismissed by the Black Cats on Monday after a forgettable 1-1 draw with Millwall last match was considered the final straw.
The decision to axe Mowbray was far more than just an on-the-pitch situation going sour however, Sunderland chairman Kyril Louis-Dreyfus wanting to go in a new bold direction with the next manager in at the Stadium of Light to move away from the departing 60-year-old’s safe and understated approach.
Various names from all corners of the football world are being linked to the attractive Championship vacancy, with one name in particular gaining traction in recent days.
Sunderland manager latest
The manager in question on everyone’s lips at the Stadium of Light is Kim Hellberg, the current IFK Värnamo boss is being tipped to leave Sweden behind for Sunderland very soon according to reports.
The Black Cats are plotting talks already to bring Hellberg into the building, with it being further revealed by Swedish football website Sportbladet that Sunderland are even sitting down with their chosen man this week to discuss the possibility of the 35-year-old taking over from Mowbray.
This would see Sunderland end their pursuit of Will Still and Kieran McKenna – two names who have also been mentioned, as has been reported in TEAMtalk – the second-tier outfit potentially going all in on the young Scandinavian head coach instead.
It’s an appointment that would raise eyebrows, but it’s a left-field managerial choice that could work.
Sunderland will hope that appointing Hellberg is a masterstroke, finding their very own Graham Potter if the 35-year-old succeeds with the club – the former Chelsea boss earned his stripes in Sweden with Östersunds FK at the start of his fledgling managerial career.
Kim Hellberg’s managerial style
Often setting up his Värnamo side in a 4-3-3 formation, Hellberg’s approach and style has seen the Swedish side pick up big wins recently to continue punching above their weight in 5th position in the Allsvenskan.
In the league recently, Hellberg’s men have confidently beaten opponents IFK Göteborg and Kalmar by the same 3-1 scoreline – Gustav Engvall up top for Värnamo helping himself to two goals and an assist in these encounters, the 27-year-old attacker a star under his now in-demand manager with 11 goals for the season.
The Sunderland hierarchy will hope he can get the misfiring Black Cats attackers firing on all cylinders if he was appointed, the Championship club have been in desperate need of a talismanic figure to lead the line again ever since Ross Stewart left in the summer.
Hellberg’s style could go hand-in-hand with the current personnel at the Black Cats, a 4-3-3 formation switch would see Jack Clarke pushed even further forward as a dangerman for the Durham-based club, which could help misfiring forwards such as Nazariy Rusyn not feel as isolated as he was in Mowbray’s previous system.
Moving away from the previously familiar 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-4-1 formations under the last tenure could also see midfielders such as Pierre Ekwah feel less shackled by their defensive duties, Sunderland’s number 39 has scored twice this season even when regularly featuring as an anchor helping out his back four.
Billed as an “extremely interesting” appointment by football journalist Josh Bunting if Sunderland can pull the move off, it will be fascinating to see if the second-tier promotion hopefuls do decide to appoint the unproven EFL entity or ultimately look elsewhere.
The Black Cats can look to the case of Potter as a reason to be optimistic, the Englishman having also been an unorthodox appointment by Swansea City when he arrived in Wales from Östersunds back in 2018, with the ex-Chelsea man then going on to have a celebrated career in England from the dug-out.
Hellberg will look at Potter’s career trajectory and he’ll want to replicate that, coming in hungry to prove a point and manage at the very top – hopefully with Sunderland.
