Championship club eyeing rival manager after ex-Sunderland man's sacking

Stoke City are eyeing a move for Blackburn Rovers boss Jon Dahl Tomasson, according to the latest reports after Alex Neil's sacking.

Neil joined Sunderland in January 2021, taking over from Lee Johnson after the now-Fleetwoon Town manager was sacked following a 6-0 thrashing away to Bolton Wanderers.

The former Norwich City manager guided Sunderland into the play-offs and then to a win against Sheffield Wednesday over two legs in the semi-finals, and then a memorable 2-0 win against Wycombe Wanderers at Wembley.

Neil started last season as Sunderland's head coach but left controversially to join Stoke City back in August, which led to the appointment of Tony Mowbray. The Potters would finish 16th last campaign while the Black Cats would reach the play-offs.

Fast forward to this season and with Stoke City once again struggling in the Championship, Neil was relieved of his duties with the club sitting in 20th having lost their last four games on the spin, including a defeat to relegation rivals Sheffield Wednesday.

However, The Telegraph are now reporting that Stoke City have identified their targets to replace Neil and that John Eustace, Michael Beale and Paul Heckingbottom have all been spoken to about replacing Neil.

The Telegraph also state that Stoke are at the ‘very early stages’ of their search but former Newcastle United player Tomasson is admired within the Bet365 Stadium as a potential Neil replacement. Tomasson's Blackburn Rovers are just two points off the play-offs but there has previously been some rumblings of a rift between manager and club.