Robbie Stockdale offers an honest insight into his Sunderland spell, his 'difficult' exit and THAT Wolves game

Stockdale was speaking to the BBC Radio Tees Sport Boro Podcast about his time in football – with his spell at Sunderland naturally a key topic of conversation.

The 40-year-old joined the Black Cats in 2012 after a spell working in Grimsby Town’s academy, and quickly worked his way up the ranks before being appointed as the club’s under-21 manager in 2014.

During his time at the Academy of Light, Stockdale helped the likes of George Honeyman, Lynden Gooch and Jordan Pickford progress through the ranks – and had plenty of praise for the way the club’s academy was run during a productive period for player development.

“I couldn't turn it down,” said Stockdale of the offer from the Black Cats.

“It was a shock in every way. Moving up to Sunderland - and I don't know if it's because I always had my Boro glasses on - I didn't really appreciate how big of a club it was.

“I'd only ever been up to Sunderland to play against them and you're in and out of it, you never think any team is as big as your own.

“But the biggest surprise I got was just how big the club was, and that took a bit of getting used to.

“The academy at the time was brilliantly ran - Ged [McNamee], Kevin Ball was involved - and the way that they did things fitted with how I liked to do things.

“It was quite an easy fit in that respect.”

And while the early years of Stockdale’s time at Sunderland was spent within the club’s youth ranks, there were soon to be brushes with the first-team.

In 2015, following the dismissal of Dick Advocaat, he was asked to take charge of the side on a temporary basis – before being promoted to first-team coach under new manager Sam Allardyce.

Stockdale would go on to take charge of the side on a further two occasions following managerial changes, and admitted it wasn’t a role he found particularly daunting.

“I always thought it was just temporary,” he said.

“There was always another manager coming in, so it was just keeping things ticking over.

“The first time I did it was just before Sam Allardyce had come in. When Dick Advocaat had left, there were no senior staff to take the team - so I stepped up from the under-21s.

“I was in charge for a couple of weeks but there was an international break. That's when Sam came in, and he watched me for a bit before I moved up to the first-team permanently with him.

“I had a couple of games, one against Middlesbrough, and then against Millwall when both 'keepers decided to chuck a couple of goals in each, before Chris Coleman came in.

“But I always kind of knew that it wasn't going to be permanent, so you just make the most of it.

“The hardest thing was the press conferences after a manager has been sacked, that's tough.

“The coaching bit is quite normal, but the extra scrutiny you get is the hardest bit.”

Things would quickly change for Stockdale following the appointment of Jack Ross, with the coach moving on in June 2018.

But before his departure came a remarkable week where, following the shock sacking of Chris Coleman, Stockdale was tasked with leading the side in their final game of the season – against runaway leaders Wolves.

With a depleted squad and several players refusing to play, Stockdale’s side were given little to no chance – only to run out 3-0 winners.

It's a week and a result that will live long in his memory, albeit it perhaps not for the right reasons.

“At the time, everything was changing.

“There was no chief executive in charge because he was leaving, and the new owners weren't in, so it was like a rudderless ship.

“It was a really tough week, and that was probably one of the hardest weeks I've had.

“I was pretty much sure I was going to get sacked at the end of the Wolves game, but I got the coaching staff around me who were still there and promoted Elliott Dickman and Cliff Byrne from the under-21s, and got good people around me.

“We were training with 14 players, that's all we had fit, and you're just hoping we get through the game and it disappears.

“I had some not so great players and attitudes who were refusing to play, but I had nowhere to go with that as there was no-one above me. But I had some really top ones as well - John O'Shea, it was going to be his last game for the club - and people like that who did things properly. I'll always be thankful for that, because it made my week a lot of easier.”

That victory – and Stockdale’s brief promotion – were a key part of the first season of Sunderland ‘Til I Die, but the coach himself is yet to watch the popular series.

“It's the one thing everyone wants to talk about, but for the people who were in it - at the level we were at - it was a difficult time anyway.

“I'm sure there will be an occasion when I do sit down and watch it, but I'm in no rush to, to be honest.”

You can listen to the full interview with Stockdale HERE.