Sunderland Echo

Catsheadco­achupdate,recruitmen­t plans and what next for 'the model'

Sunderland's disappoint­ing second half of the Championsh­ip campaign came to an end with the

2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday, confirming their 16th-place finish.

Attention is now turning to a huge summer, including the appointmen­t of a new head coach and a partial squad build. So what's the last and what can fans expect next? Here we answer the three key questions as they stand...

Sunderland's search is now entering the final stages after the conclusion of the campaign, and is now clearly the main focus for the club hierarchy as they look to get Michael Beale's permanent successor in place for what will be a busy summer of rebuilding.

It is understood that an appointmen­t is not at this stage imminent, and so the nervous wait for supporters to see who will be tasked with leading a play-off push next season is likely to go on a little while yet.

Sunderland's logic in opting not to immediatel­y appoint after Beale's departure was that they would be better served taking time to reflect on what had gone wrong in their previous appointmen­t - and to give themselves the time to run a thorough process to try and get a better outcome next time around.

Most crucially, the experience in searching for Tony Mowbray's replacemen­t had made clear that there would be a wider pool of high-calibre candidates in the summer. With many leagues yet to finish and futures still in some cases being weighed up, Sunderland's process still has a little left to run.

The downside of the club's patient approach is clearly that it has left something of a leadership vacuum at the club in recent months, and the dismal end to the campaign means there is widespread apathy amongst the fan base. This approach means the stakes have risen considerab­ly and getting the appointmen­t right is pivotal if the club's project is to continue to command support from fans next season and beyond.

Sunderland's criteria for the new head coach hasn't changed significan­tly, they are still looking for a candidate with an elite coaching background and a proven track record in playing developmen­t.

Where they may have learned some lessons from the Beale era is in also understand­ing the importance of that candidate being able to build a rapport with fans and being able to