David Preece on surprise Sunderland exit, what Kristjaan Speakman said & Alex Neil disappointment: Exclusive

After assessing his options and making a decision about the next stage of his career, David Preece received a phone call which made him change his mind.

The former Sunderland goalkeeper had spent two years coaching at Swedish club Ostersunds, before helping out at Rochdale in League One during the end of the 2020/21 season.

Then, out of the blue, came the chance to return to Wearside, working for his boyhood club as part of Lee Johnson’s coaching staff.

“I came back from Sweden in the sort of January, February time and had a year left on my contract there,” Preece tells the Echo.

“I’d been out there two years and one of those years was during Covid so it was pretty difficult to get back to see family. My first year was so much easier to get back or my partner to get out there.

“I finished that season with Rochdale, got a phone call from Brian Barry-Murphy, he needed some help at Rochdale. Then at the end of the season I was just weighing up options really, had quite a few options.

“The funny thing was the week before Sunderland were supposed to go to Edinburgh for a pre-season camp, I was actually supposed to make a decision about what I was going to do on the Monday. Then just got a phone call Friday seeing if I fancied going up to Edinburgh with them with a view to taking the job permanently.

“It was really just a phone call out of the blue. Obviously I spent the week up there with Lee and then got the interview process then.

“I had two or three really good offers to go elsewhere and I’d made my mind up. I’d made a decision then was going to take an offer on the Monday.

“It was only because it was Sunderland that it made me change my decision. I just asked for a little bit more time to make my decision which the other club let me do.

“By the time I got into the interview process it was kind of like that’s where my focus has shifted, there was no question about where I wanted to go.”

A rollercoaster year

Preece was part of Sunderland rollercoaster 2021/22 campaign, which ultimately ended in promotion via the play-offs after Johnson was replaced by Alex Neil in February.

“It was a great start to the season,” recalls Preece. “Then there was that little spell, the defeat away to Rotherham (5-1) and to Sheffield Wednesday (3-0).

“Evidently those became damaging to Lee because he lost his job (following a 6-0 defeat at Bolton), but I think the mood around the place, especially around the time when Lee left, because we were still in touch and only a point or two off top spot, there was never any time you felt there was a problem in the dressing room.

“Of course it wasn’t plain sailing but you go to any club and there are challenges throughout the season. I think because of us spending so much time in League One, with each season it becomes even more critical that the club gets promoted.

“It probably reached a point in the timeframe that that was the season it had to happen. Perhaps if it had been the first season in League One there would have been a little bit more understanding and patience with what Lee was trying to do.”

Winning at Wembley

Crucially, Sunderland did manage to steer their season back on track before beating Wycombe 2-0 in the play-off final at Wembley - a moment to remember for all involved.

“I’ve thought about this a lot,” replies Preece when asked about that day. “I talk about how everything was just normalised.

“There was never really an atmosphere in the week leading up to the final that was any big deal, or any more of a big deal than some of the big games we’d had during the season. There is no doubt there is pressure to get results at Sunderland because of the division we were in.

“We spoke about this when the staff were sitting before the game on the night time. Alex said ‘what do you think about tomorrow?’ and I said ‘I think we’ll win.’ It wasn’t over confidence because we knew we’d put the work in, we were prepared for the game as much as we could be.

“In football sometimes wins just come as a relief, you don’t enjoy them. You enjoy the result, of course you do, but you don’t enjoy the game and the stress and everything.

“From start to finish it was an incredible experience that you were able to fully enjoy. That was the great thing about it. I made sure that I enjoyed it and took it all in. The lads made sure that we all enjoyed it.”

READ MORE: David Preece discusses Premier League interest in Anthony Patterson

A disappointing end

Unfortunately for Preece that elated feeling was replaced by a very different one just a month later, when he was told his services were no longer required by Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman.

“We’d had a couple of days back in the office after the game, just tying some loose ends and then looking forward to recruitment and things like that,” says Preece.

“I went on holiday and was away for two weeks, came back and we were just called in. I got a text message from Alex just saying can you come in a little bit earlier the day before pre-season so we can have a chat through about what we’re going to do. I’m like ‘yeah no problem.’ There was no expectation of anything else.

“It just felt like being hijacked a little bit because we came in under pretensive organising stuff, went into the office to see Kristjaan and was told, the words they used were ‘going in a different direction.’

“It was myself, Phil Jevons (first-team coach) and Luke Coles who was the analyst who left. I think he left a couple of weeks before, but it was a surprise. I had no real inkling of it.”

“The reason Kristjaan gave for my departure was that Alex didn’t feel he’d made a connection with me, so obviously I was disappointed not to hear that directly from him and to see him leave so soon afterwards.”

What’s next?

So what is next for Preece, a year after leaving Sunderland?

“It took me a little while to digest what had happened really,” he admits.

“To go from being assured you were a club appointment, being told what a good job you’re doing. It took me a little while to adjust to that.

“I didn’t want to rush into anything, so initially I turned a couple of jobs down. I’ve had a couple of interviews for roles at other places that haven’t happened.

“After that first initial few months of getting my head around it and then looking forward again, it’s just waiting for the right opportunity.

“I think just because of the situation, because it was Sunderland, because I’d made a big decision to come back and then that happens, you want to make sure the next one is right and sort of work with people you trust and feel comfortable.

“It’s just waiting for the right opportunity but I’m definitely looking to get back in.

“At the same time I’m using my time wisely, went back to doing a little bit of media stuff, have been working in the Caribbean with Montserrat which is a nice environment to be working in.

“When the right full-time role comes up I’ll take it.”