Lee Johnson SACKED as Sunderland Head Coach

Sunderland have announced that Lee Johnson has been sacked as head coach, leaving after a 6-0 defeat away to Bolton Wanderers this weekend.

The former Oldham and Bristol City boss arrived at the club in December 2020 when he replaced Phil Parkinson, but the club weren’t able to get out of League One after a play-off semi-final defeat to Lincoln.

This season, with the team sat in 3rd place, the concerning away defeats at Sheffield Wednesday, Rotherham and at Bolton, in particular, have given Sunderland’s owner a cause for concern, and now the club have taken the decision to appoint a new man who can hopefully guide the team out of the third tier after four long and frustrating seasons.

The club statement reads:

Sunderland AFC today announced the departure of Lee Johnson as Head Coach.

The 40-year-old, who arrived at the Stadium of Light in December 2020, has left the club with immediate effect alongside Assistant Head Coach Jamie McAllister.

Johnson guided SAFC to 41 wins in 75 games, including the club’s first victory at Wembley Stadium since 1973, and he was named League One Manager of the Month on two occasions.

Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said: “I would like to thank Lee for his commitment and endeavour over the past 14 months. We regret that we have had to take this decision, but felt immediate change was needed. We firmly believe that this is in the best interests of Sunderland AFC as we strive to earn promotion this season. Lee and Jamie will always be welcome at the Stadium of Light and they depart with our best wishes.”

The process to appoint a new Head Coach will commence immediately and a further update regarding the club’s interim coaching set-up will be communicated shortly.