Sunderland’s top managerial target gives biggest hint yet he’ll be the next man to lead the club

Whilst nothing has been said officially yet about who the man will be that replaces Chris Coleman as Sunderland manager, it’s fairly evident that the top target of the club’s prospective new owners is Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder.

And, when asked by the press this morning whether or not he’ll be the next Sunderland manager, Wilder wouldn’t give a definite answer but certainly hinted that his future with the South Yorkshire club is uncertain.

Roker Report learned from a source placed near the top of the new ownership pyramid earlier this week that Wilder remains very much within their sights, as many had suspected, but that the cost of luring him to Wearside will not be cheap and may prove to be a small stumbling block should we wish to go down that avenue.

In fact any potential deal was described to us as “expensive, with big compensation”, but that Wilder “is perfect for us”.

Wilder and Donald enjoy an excellent personal relationship going back to when both men were at Oxford United, and taking into account the Yorkshireman’s fantastic record in the lower leagues and also the Championship its quite easy to see why Sunderland might be set on attracting him to manage us in League One next season.

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Wilder has been increasingly involved in a dispute with the owners of Sheffield United recently over his own personal ambitions and the level of investment they’re prepared to give the playing squad at Bramall Lane, and it’s understood that he’s become frustrated at the direction and the lack of support he seems to be receiving.

There’s a feeling around Sheffield at the minute that Wilder has perhaps reached his ceiling with United and, unless significant investment is forthcoming, he can’t possibly achieve any more with the squad he’s got than he already has.

And though it would seem a strange move for Wilder to drop down a league to manage on Wearside, it’s thought he’s keen to attach himself to a project on the scale of the one that Sunderland face having dealt with two devastating relegations in just shy of a year.

Until the EFL ratify Stewart Donald’s takeover of Sunderland he cannot realistically appoint any new manager, but it’s understood that he’s already sounded out the people he wants to put in place once the process has been completed and he can be named officially as the owner of the football club.