“Throwing my hat into the ring as Sunderland’s new head coach!”

Please indulge me.

At the time of writing, Sunderland haven’t appointed a new head coach, so can I apply for the vacant position and outline my footballing plan to bring success to our great club?

In addition, I’ve decided to ask the necessary questions of the owners and board members in order to give me the best chance of being successful in the role. I’m asking these questions on behalf of the other candidates, knowing that they won’t have the bottle to ask for themselves.

My qualifications for the role are as follows:

• I’ve been a season card holder for as long as I can remember.
• I’ve watched the Lads away from home at least three hundred times at over seventy different grounds.
• I sit at games, ignoring the opinions of the few who complain about absolutely everything, whilst taking on board the opinions of the majority, who actually get most things right.

I have no formal football qualifications and I realise this could disadvantage me, but I absolutely believe that I would’ve got more points out of our current squad than the last two incumbents got from their shared twenty five games in charge. In fairness, I couldn’t have done any worse!

Forget about systems and formations, because the main thing any coach should be judged on is whether he’s improved his players. However, every member of our squad has got worse under the recent leadership, so the benchmark isn’t high.

I’ve worked in business management for the past twenty five years, so I understand the importance of setting high standards, challenging the people in charge, continuing to do the things that are working, not changing for the sake of it and admitting when things have gone wrong.

All very sensible, but beyond the current club management this season.

Allow me to set out the detail of my application and ask the questions that need answering before my hoped-for interview…

Firstly, can I congratulate the current owners for the state the club is currently in, compared to how it was when they took over?

In saying that, can I ask Kyril Louis-Dreyfus to confirm whether or not he’s still as committed and as ambitious as he was. In addition, is he happy to share in the responsibility of what’s gone wrong in the last twelve months?

To Kristjaan Speakman, may I compliment you on some of the signings made during your tenure? Without doubt, you’ve overseen a massive increase in the value of the squad.

However, can I also ask whether there’s any flexibility as far as the project is concerned, moving forward, and are you accountable for the absolute fiasco of the last six months?

You probably have enough credit in the bank to have another go at getting things right, but as your new manager, I would have my eyes on you.

Can I ask who authorised Mike Dodds to hold end-of-season conversations with our squad and to make plans for next season?

Dodds has publicly stated that he’s ‘proud of the job’ he’s done on an interim basis, despite having a 15% win rate — the lowest in our history. Why, therefore, is he acting above his station? Surely this is an indication of what’s wrong at the club.

We’re told that he’s a good coach, but he has bridges to build to convince anyone of that being the case. If you have any chance whatsoever of salvaging your career, concentrate on that, and that alone. Again, as your new manager, I would need some convincing.

Regarding the coaching at the club, have things become stale?

Is it ‘jobs for the boys’, and wouldn’t it make more sense if I was allowed to bring in my own trusted team? Without this, I fear that I’m only warming the seat for whoever comes next.

Despite my lack of formal qualifications, I would give my all and I would demand that every player wearing our shirt accepts the privilege bestowed upon them, giving everything for the cause as a minimum requirement.

I realise that in order to be a success, I would need a plan.

If I’m honest, I don’t feel as if I need to be Jurgen Klopp to get things right. I still believe in a lot of the good we have at the club and I’m convinced that things could be changed quite easily.

So, here’s my plan moving forward…

Save money on players’ wages

We need to thank the players listed below for the memories, say ‘sorry that it hasn’t worked out’, or simply tell some of them to sling their hooks. Whatever the reason, release the following players:

Evans, Embleton, Matete; Diamond, Huggins, Taylor; Bass, Bishop, Anderson; Dack, Styles, Burstow.

I don’t know what salaries these players are on but I’d imagine that we wouldn’t get any change from £80,000 per week.

Don’t scrap the project

Loan out Hemir, Nectar Triantis, Eliezer Mayenda, Jewison Bennette, Caden Kelly, Marshall Burke and Tom Lavery.

Let them have a year of playing men’s football week in and week out, to see if we’ve got real players on our hands. It’s also time to promote Matty Young and Tommy Watson to the first team squad.

Generate cash from sales to reinvest in the squad

Sell two players to generate money for reinvestment. One is inevitable and one is very harsh and definitely controversial.

Jack Clarke is too good for the Championship and we shouldn’t hold him back, and the other player to sell is Jobe.

This might come back to haunt me, as good as he was at the beginning of the season and taking into account his tender years. However, good managers are brave and sometimes make big decisions. As good as Jobe is, I don’t think he’ll make it as a top pro as he’s too slow.

He also stands in the way of the development of Chris Rigg, who’ll be a top player.

This would free up another £20-30,000 of weekly wages, generating £40 million in transfer fees, so by my calculations, I’ve brought in £40 million and saved well over £100,000 in weekly wages.

Add this to the amount of investment I would hope from the club and the money from the Ross Stewart sale, and I’d be confident that this would give us the budget to give Chris Rigg the contract he needs, reward the players we need to build our future and sign the likes of Sammie Szmodics, Lawrence Shankland, Morgan Whittaker and Chris Willock, who are seasoned and experienced pros.

Thank you for allowing me to apply, although I fear that I might have asked too many awkward questions, not toed the party line enough and- God forbid- made enough sense to be successful.

Darrin Adamson.

Ed’s Note [Phil]: Hi, Darrin. Thank you for your letter.

You raise many interesting points; some of which I agree with, such as the rationale for promoting Mike Dodds to the role of interim head coach (a decision seemingly based on convenience rather than a genuine desire to salvage anything from the season), and others that I don’t subscribe to, such as the idea of selling Jobe and letting him go just one year after he arrived at the club.

The wider issue is that this summer needs to represent a turning point for Sunderland AFC.

2023/2024 was not the season that anyone would’ve hoped for or maybe even expected, and after finishing a mere six points above the relegation zone, the idea of ploughing on regardless and failing to address the flaws in both recruitment and coaching is simply not going to cut the mustard.

We need to see real and meaningful action, and a willingness to be flexible at all levels. This club’s future prosperity depends on it.