Former Sunderland boss opens up on Black Cats 'unrest' as midfielder makes bold international admission

Former Sunderland manager Simon Grayson has opened up on the ‘really difficult environment’ he found during his managerial reign at the Stadium of Light.

The former Huddersfield Town and Preston North End boss took charge of the Black Cats during the summer of 2017 and was tasked with helping the club recover from relegation into the Championship. After collecting five points from his first three games in charge, Grayson’s side embarked on a run of 12 games without a league win and the final game of their dismal run of form ended his short-lived reign as the Black Cats were held to a 3-3 draw at Bolton Wanderers.

Chris Coleman was named as Grayson’s successor - but the former Wales boss was unable to halt the slide into League One as Sunderland crashed into the third for the only the second time in their history. Grayson went on to manager Bradford City, Blackpool, Fleetwood Town and Indian Super League club Bengaluru - but remains adamant he does not regret his time on Wearside, despite bemoaning the attitude and work-rate of the players he inherited from Moyes.

He told World Football Index: “There was a lot of unrest among the players, and it was a really difficult environment. These things happen. Chris Coleman came in, didn’t manage to turn things around, and the club got relegated. We both got labeled as unsuccessful, but there were a lot of other factors that contributed to where the club was and still is. It should be in the Premier League, but it was in League One for a few years. The one thing people always ask me is whether I regret leaving Preston.

“I don’t have any regrets. I always think you can only regret things you don’t do. The last thing I wanted was for someone else to get Sunderland promoted and think, ‘That could have been me.’ So I don’t regret going. The only thing I wish I could have done was take the whole group of players from Preston with me and swap them for the ones at Sunderland because they had a lot more about them—a better attitude and a greater willingness to work and learn—whereas, at Sunderland, I don’t think they did.”

Black Cats star makes bold international admission

Sunderland midfielder Alan Browne has admitted the Republic of Ireland are lacking a star player that ‘stands out a mile’ after they made a poor start to their Nations League campaign.

The Irish were handed home games against England and Greece in the first two fixtures but fell to a pair of 2-0 defeats that left them sat second from bottom in the four-team group, with only Finland sat beneath them in the table. There has been fierce criticism of the performances during both defeats as former Stoke City midfielder Glen Whelan questioned whether the current group of players were hurt by the defeat as much as he was. Browne gave an open and honest assessment of where the Irish squad stands at present and stressed they are missing ‘that presence’ of a top quality player rather than a leader.

"I think there are quite a lot of players who have captained their club or captained their country. If you look at the team, there are a good few in there," said to RTE. "We probably don’t have that presence, that Premier League-quality player that stands out a mile from the rest like you might have had in years gone by. Boys are playing in the Premier League and doing quite well, but we don’t have that world-class figure that everyone looks at and thinks, 'he is going to win us the game.' I know Evan (Ferguson) has obviously got a bright future, but it is a lot to put on his shoulders, being so young. And at the moment, he hasn’t played a lot of football. Yes, you are probably just missing that presence rather than leadership."