Sunderland have performed well in the absence of a permanent manager following the sacking of Tony Mowbray, making it back-to-back victories in midweek thanks to Jobe Bellingham’s late winner against Leeds United.
Still, as we approach the new year and the start of the January transfer window, the club and their supporters will want clarity over who will be in the dugout for the remainder of the Championship season and beyond.
Sunderland set to appoint Michael Beale
According to reports on Friday, Sunderland are closing in on the appointment of Michael Beale, who left Rangers earlier this season. The Black Cats will hope he can bring some of the ideas that saw him thrive at QPR to Wearside, despite a rocky campaign in Glasgow this time around.
However, speaking to Fotbollskanalen, in quotes translated by Sport Witness, Hammarby director of football Mikael Hjelmberg has revealed that he feared the allure of Sunderland would be too much for his new boss Kim Hellberg, and there was legitimate “concern” in Sweden that the Black Cats would win the race.
Hjelmberg regarded Hellberg as the “dream man” for the job, but says he was concerned when he learned of the Black Cats’ interest: “I felt ‘Oh, wow’. There was some kind of concern, but I still thought [Hammarby would appoint him] because we had such an open and honest dialogue all the way.”
The Times reported last week that Sunderland would interview the 35-year-old over the vacancy at the Stadium of Light, but Hammarby jumped in and sealed the deal with the Scandinavian tactician this week.
Hellberg took on his first stint in management with Swedish top-flight club Varnamo at the start of 2022, leading them to a 10th place finish in his first season before an impressive ascent to fifth place in 2023. With the Allsvsenskan season operating according to the calendar year, Hellberg chose to part ways with Varnamo at the end of last month to pursue a new opportunity, and that caught the attention of Sunderland.
Sunderland missed out on an expert in player development
Hellberg would no doubt have been a bold appointment given his lack experience in British or indeed major European football, but it would also have been an exciting gamble.
In an interview with Fotboll Transfers, Jonathan Levi, who played for Norrkoping while Hellberg was an assistant coach, raved about the “absolutely perfect” coach. He sees him as a tactical mastermind whose expertise in positioning, the subtleties of movement and creating overloads developed him as a player.
“Kim is the coach who has taught me the most at senior level. When you’re young, of course you learn technical stuff, but that’s something else entirely.
“When it comes to after my elite career started, there is no one who has developed me more than Kim has done. He is incredibly good when it comes to how to position yourself, how to drive the ball, which shoulder to drive the ball towards in relation to the defenders, how to move in the box and how to get a four against three situation to be a three-on-two situation.”
Now, for Sunderland, the attention turns to Beale and Saturday’s trip to Bristol City, with caretaker boss Mike Dodds set to lead the team once again.
