Mike Dodds left Sunderland to join Wycombe Wanderers earlier this season.

Former Sunderland coach Mike Dodds has already established himself as a popular appointment in the Wycombe Wanderers dressing room, according to Sky Sports pundit Joe Jacobson.

The 38-year-old called time on his playing career at the end of last season, but had previously spent a decade on the books with Wycombe, and remains in close contact with a number of members of the squad that Dodds inherited from predecessor Matt Bloomfield at Adams Park.

As for Dodds, he left his previous post in Regis Le Bris’ backroom staff at the Stadium of Light to take over the top job with the Chairboys, and has impressed during the early weeks of his tenure. At the time of writing, the ex-Sunderland man has lost just once in League One, and a 2-0 victory over Burton Albion on Tuesday evening maintained his side’s place in the automatic promotion spots.

What did Joe Jacobson say about former Sunderland coach Mike Dodds?

Speaking on Sky Sports’ coverage of that clash, Jacobson said: “People were waiting, with the managerial change that happened when Matt Bloomfield went to Luton, they were waiting for Wycombe to fall off a little bit… But Dodds has come in and steadied the ship again after the interim spell of Sam Grace, and you can tell the players really like him.

“From speaking to the players like I do, one thing he did when he first came in is gather the experienced players in the dressing room and tell them, ‘I’m on your side, we can achieve something special here.’ And they’ll now be very confident they can do that with the squad they’ve got.”

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What has been said about Mike Dodds since his Sunderland exit?

Dodds was also a hugely popular figure during his time on Wearside. Speaking after his departure, Black Cats stalwart Luke O’Nien explained: “However you want to put it, Mike Dodds from the day he joined to the day he left was simply first class. Any success this club has going forward, he was extremely pivotal in all of that. I think the iceberg effect is quite a nice way to sometimes put it with Mike Dodds. People from the outside, I mean, it's the most respectful way because that's sometimes all you can see if you're on a boat, all you can see is the top of the iceberg.

“But as players, we get to see all of it, and however that top of the iceberg looks in some people's eyes, some people might see him take it as gaffer and see the initial losses, or they might see when he took charge, and we beat West Brom and Leeds. But I think it's important to see the whole of the iceberg and that foundation that Mike Dodds put in for this group and for this club.”

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