Sunderland announced yesterday that they have terminated the contract of manager Jack Ross, after 18 months of him in charge at the Stadium of Light.
Despite guiding the club to two Wembley finals in his first season in charge, his failure to guide the Black Cats to promotion from League One and a few questionable results at the start of this season had increased the pressure on Ross.
The 2-0 defeat at Lincoln City at the weekend proved to be the final straw for Ross and the club now have ten days before their next game to appoint his replacement.
One man who has already been strongly linked with the role is former Barnsley manager Daniel Stendel, who only parted company with the South Yorkshire club yesterday.
Here are three reasons why Sunderland are right to consider Stendel as a replacement for Ross...
His experience in League One
Stendel was able to guide Barnsley to automatic promotion from League One in his first season in English football. That alone makes him an ideal candidate to replace Ross.
Given what he achieved at Oakwell and the quality that Sunderland have, if Stendel were to take charge at the Stadium of Light, you'd have to fancy him to guide the club to promotion.
He knows exactly what it takes to achieve success at this level and he should be able to get the best out of the players already at the club.
He's also got a little bit of experience in the Championship now too, so if Sunderland were to win promotion this season, then he'd know what to expect and should be better prepared to cope with the challenges of managing at that level.
He'd be able to build an exciting squad
Sunderland have got arguably the strongest squad in League One, but Stendel would surely want to put his own stamp on the squad in the transfer market if he were to take charge at the Stadium of Light, just as any manager would.
When he took charge at Oakwell last summer, he was able to put together a really exciting group of talented young players and guide the team to promotion. He would surely be able to achieve similar success at Sunderland.
With the money and the resources that Sunderland have, on top of the quality of players already at the club, you imagine that Stendel would be able assemble a very strong team - one good enough to win promotion and survive in the Championship next season.
The fans would get behind him
After making the decision to sack Ross, Sunderland need to make sure that they get this next appointment right. Not only do they need someone who knows what it takes to win promotion, but they also need a manager that the fans can get behind.
After his failure to win promotion last season, a few Sunderland fans had grown tired and frustrated with Ross, and many were actually relieved when the club decided to part company with the Scot.
However, Stendel is somebody who the Sunderland fans would instantly be able to get behind.
He's a very likeable character and if their reaction to his availability on social media is anything to go by, his appointment would go down very well with supporters at the Stadium of Light.
The German formed an instant connection with Barnsley supporters and he'd surely be able to do the same with the Sunderland fans. His appointment would get supporters back on side and that could be exactly what the club need right now.
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