Former Sunderland boss Simon Grayson has opened up about what life was like at Sunderland while Sunderland Till I Die was being filmed. Grayson, who spent just 123 days in charge of the club, joined the Black Cats following their relegation to the Premier League.
Racking up just three wins from 18 games, Grayson was eventually sacked in early November, being replaced by former Wales boss Chris Coleman. In what was a turbulent time for the club. Grayson’s spell was filmed and documented by streaming giants Netflix as Sunderland Till I Die followed the club’s journey over two consecutive seasons as the Black Cats were relegated from the Championship and struggled to escape League One.
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Grayson revealed some of the secrets behind the filming of the documentary.
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“It wasn’t easy, I don’t think any manager would be comfortable doing it,” he said.. “The input I had into it was they asked to put cameras in the dressing room, I said no. I also said you're not filming training on a Thursday or Friday when we are doing all our main stuff.
"So they maybe get slightly agitated that you’re not giving them full cooperation and license to do whatever they want, they wanted to jump in your car when you were driving home from a game. I was just like 'I need my own privacy'.”
The former Leeds and Preston manager then went on to highlight that fact that parts of the show were produced and edited for certain affect.
“They didn’t get what they wanted all the time and you get perceived in certain way because of how it is produced," he added. “Probably the biggest thing was that people said they thought I didn’t come across as if I was bothered about the club. Well, part of my contractual settlement was that I still had to do interviews for them, so three months later after I left, I am in a hotel in London – three different shirts on, talking about previous episodes of the season that had already happened.
"So, I am obviously not going to speak to openly or motivating about a club I had already left and been sacked from anyway. People don’t know too many things, but they don’t see that at the time, it is only when I put out stuff like this and do other interviews, people actually realise that it is not all in sync of everything that actually happened.”
When questioned on whether he watched the documentary following his sacking, Grayson added: “I only watched the first four episodes as I knew I got sacked in episode four, so I left it after that.”
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