Newly-appointed Sunderland sporting director Kristjaan Speakman is tasked with building the club up for the future and we could see one of his former colleagues soon joining him on Wearside to help him.

The Black Cats are entering another new era and it's one that fans will hope sees better structure in place at all levels of the club.

Certainly, there are several roles still needing work and appointments but Speakman coming in is a good sign and Lee Johnson is a modern coach that is familiar with the contemporary way football clubs are set-up.

Indeed, with new owners set to come in it's an exciting period for the Black Cats, and Speakman - according to the Sunderland Echo - could soon be joined by Mike Dodds, who is currently the Head of the Professional Development Phase at Birmingham City.

The Verdict

The Blues, of course, have recently announced changes to their academy structure with them binning age groups below u18 - a call that has been met with dismay.

Speakman and co. are tasked, among other things, with really improving the Sunderland youth set-up and fixing the issues that has seen the academy struggle and lose good players over recent years.

Dodds, then, could well be part of that with him potentially set to walk away from the Blues now.