Will Still to Sunderland: Black Cats close in on Football Manager-inspired boss

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 13 Dec 2023 10:43 GMT
• 4 min read

Will Still looks increasingly likely to become Sunderland’s next manager.

The Reims boss has enjoyed a rapid rise to fame over the last year after coming to the fore at the Ligue 1 club after being inspired to move into coaching by the video game Football Manager.

But the 31-year-old is not simply some computer geek who has been thrust into a role above his station. He has proven himself thanks to a succession of impressive results achieved attractively for a club that he now has punching above its weight.

Why Will Still wants Sunderland job

Still, according to reports in L’Equipe, feels that he may have taken Reims as far as he can, though.

He is fearful that during the early months of 2024, he will lose key players to the African Cup of Nations and Asian Nations Cup and, consequently, results will start to slide. On top of this, there is a concern that his reputation will be impacted by this and his ability to land the type of role he covets will be hit.

It is claimed that Still approached Sunderland with an interest in the job and that he held talks with the Black Cats on Monday.

Sunderland’s biggest complication in landing Still promises to be agreeing a compensation package with Reims.

The manager is the Champagne outfit’s greatest asset at present, and while there is a release clause in his contract that will allow him to depart, this will only become active in the summer.

It may be that this is too late for the Championship side, yet the popularity of interim boss Mik Dodds suggests there might be room to negotiate a deal with the Belgian-English coach to delay his arrival until the summer.

Reims’ bargaining position isn’t particularly strong, although their president Jean-Pierre Caillot is known to be a hard negotiator. Still is only under contract until 2025.

What are the risks?

Naturally, there are risks involved in this appointment.

Sunderland may not be the powder keg of a club it once was, but their supporters have a strong appetite to get back to the Premier League. However, the Championship is notoriously tough to get out of, and Leicester and Ipswich appear to have already sown up the automatic promotion spots this season.

Still might not be under pressure to get it right this season, but his reputation as being a ‘Football Manager graduate’ could easily see fans turn against him if there was little to no improvement in 18 months.

From Sunderland’s perspective, meanwhile, Still has no meaningful experience in English football and, in particular, the uniquely chaotic environment of the Championship, where clubs regularly play three times a week. Contrast this to his life currently in France, where he has the luxury of a week to prepare his team for just one opponent.

That’s not to say, of course, that he wouldn’t excel at the Stadium of Light, but it would be naïve to overlook this as a potential hurdle to his success.

For Sunderland, it looks a risk worth taking. Still’s stock is quickly rising and appointing him could prove a masterstroke if he can replicate on Wearside what he has achieved with Reims in Champagne.