Mike Dodds has left Sunderland to join Wycombe Wanderers.

Sunderland stalwart Luke O'Nien has delivered a heartfelt message of thanks to Mike Dodds after the coach left the Black Cats to take up a position as Wycombe Wanderers’ new manager.

The 38-year-old has been a prominent member of Sunderland’s backroom staff in recent years, and has even taken charge of the first team on an interim basis in the recent past, including an extended spell in the dugout at the end of last season following the departure of Michael Beale.

His last game with the Black Cats was Monday night’s superb 3-2 win over Middlesbrough at The Riverside, and he has now left the North East to take up his new post as head coach at Adams Park. Dodds’ first match in charge will come against Preston North End in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Saturday afternoon.

And in the build-up to that encounter, Sunderland club captain O’Nien has taken to social media to express his gratitude towards Dodds. Writing on X, he said: “I can’t express how great this man has been for this football club. I wish all you fans truly knew how important he has been to us all as players! Ask anyone and they will tell you the same thing. Mike Dodds, I can’t thank you enough! Good luck!”

In a separate post, O’Nien - who signed for the Black Cats from Wycombe in 2018 - told his former club: “Congrats on appointing Mike Dodds as your head coach. Slightly annoyed at the same time that my former club have taken the best coach that I have ever worked under from me.

“But also buzzing that you guys get to experience what I have done over the last three years; a manager with an incredible footballing brain who made me love the game in ways I didn’t know and gave me incredible clarity going into each game on what I and the team needed to do. I wouldn’t be competing at the top of the Championship without how he has developed me both on and off the pitch. Look after him for us, please, and I look forward to following your every game as I have done since I left your great club.”

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Addressing Dodds’ departure, and the vacuum his exit would leave, in a recent press conference, Sunderland head coach Regis Le Bris said: "When I came here he helped me a lot to manage the first sessions, the first connections with the team and the club. And we found a good set up together.

“Now he has decided to leave because he wants to become a head coach and this will be a very good opportunity for him. We have to accept that but for sure, there is regret for me because we worked well together. I'm not sure yet whether we will replace him, I just wanted to focus on the game against Middlesbrough and then we will look at it a bit later."

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