Chris Coleman claims it was "the wrong time" with "the wrong people in charge of the club" during his four month Sunderland tenure. The former Black Cats boss took over with the Wearsiders locked in a relegation battle in the Championship.
He was unable to keep the Black Cats up, despite small signs of hope, with Sunderland tumbling into the third tier of English football. While Coleman believes there's hope for red and white supporters with the right man in charge, he claims he cannot watch the Netflix documentary.
Speaking to the i, he said: "It was an honour to be asked to go to Sunderland. I’m a football person, I know there’s certain clubs – they have the history, supporters, the potential. When it came up, even though they were bottom of the league, I just thought ‘I’m not going to turn that down’. They’ve got such potential.
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“It was just the wrong time, I was only there four months, with the wrong people in charge of the club. But it’s definitely the right club for anyone to manage.
"If anyone asked me about Sunderland I’d say ‘Walk there!’ If you can get that club going, and those people on side, it will be something else. It’s the biggest regret of my career because we got relegated and that was unthinkable. It was so frustrating because we were helpless a little bit.”
The 'Sunderland 'til I die' documentary has been a constant reminder of the harsh decline of the club. Coleman himself claims he can't watch it and would have preferred if the cameras weren't there.
He said: “I didn’t even know there was a documentary happening. I signed the contract in Winchester, where I live, and I didn’t know about the cameras until after I signed the contract.
"I was a bit surprised. It wasn’t my cup of tea, cameras in the dressing room and following you round.
“But it was what it was, we had an obligation to play our part. I can’t watch it, it’s too painful for me.”
Coleman claims he took a pay cut to stay at Sunderland but Stewart Donald's takeover saw the club move in a different direction with the Welshman departing. He said: “I signed a good contract to go there, we got relegated and I said: ‘Rip that up, of course.’
“They asked me: ‘Would I consider revising my terms?’ I said ‘Of course, if you can’t afford to pay me that I’d love the chance to take us back up’. But new owners came in and had different ideas.”
