Sunderland coach Mike Dodds has been linked with a reunion with his old Wearside boss Alex Neil at Stoke City. Neil left the Black Cats in August to take over at Stoke, but his new club has struggled for form.
And Neil, in conjunction with technical director Ricky Martin, have begun a coaching overhaul with ex-Sunderland midfielder Rory Delap leaving the bet365 Stadium last week. That has left a vacancy on Neil's staff, and a report in The Mirror says that Dodds is being touted as a potential replacement.
Dodds was a development coach at Sunderland, working with the club's U23 side, before taking on increased first-team responsibilities when Neil took over in February last year, and his role as first team coach was formalised in the summer. He is well-regarded within the game and, during his time on the academy staff at Birmingham City before he joined Sunderland, was credited with having played a major role in the development of midfielder Jude Bellingham as he rose through the ranks with the Blues, before going on to move to Borussia Dortmund and become a star man for England.
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Neil was last week asked about the possibility of bringing in another coach to replace Delap, and said: "That's something that is ongoing like most things at the club. We'll see where we get to.
"I'm not sure at the moment, we'll need to wait and see. There are a whole list of things I'd like to do but naturally we've only got so much time and there's only so much manoeuvrability to make sure we get to where we want to get to."
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