Sunderland would probably not look back on the past five years as being as successful as they hoped, with an array of managers failing to assist them in their aims of securing Championship football. 

The narrative changed this year following the appointment of Alex Neil in February who was able to guide his side to the play-off final where they overcame Wycombe Wanderers.

One man in particular who experienced an unsuccessful time with the Black Cats was Chris Coleman who failed to keep Sunderland in the Championship ,after being appointed in November of the 2017/18 season.

However, the Welshman insists that he doesn't regret the experience as he told FourFourTwo (via the Chronicle): "Lots of people told me not to take it; they were bottom of the Championship, the owner was selling up and so on. But I always enjoyed playing at Sunderland, and I thought I could stabilise them.

"With the atmosphere that the crowd can generate, I thought we could kick on. I was wrong. I had options elsewhere, but I don't regret it because I met some fantastic people."

However, despite being positive about his time at the Stadium of Light, Coleman admitted there was one person who he never got the chance to meet which is somewhat surprisingly former owner of the club Ellis Short. The former manager said: "Sadly, I couldn't tell you anything about Ellis Short - I only know what he looks like from photos. I never met or spoke to him. He wouldn't engage with me at all.

"We lost a load of players to injury and needed signings in January, but I was told that the owner wasn't interested. I took a chance of turning things around, but I failed. I'm pleased to see them back in the Championship."

The Verdict:

This doesn't feel too surprising when you look back on Chris Coleman's time at Sunderland but when you think about it, it's no wonder things didn't really go to plan for the Welshman.

There were various reasons why Sunderland didn't manage to stay up in that season but it would be naive to think that some of it didn't stem from the top and people who were seemingly uninterested in on the pitch matters.

That being said, the former manager does look back on his time at the Stadium of Light with fondness despite it not going to plan in terms of the job at hand and now the club have made it back to the Championship, they will be hoping it's a new era.