This article is part of Football League World’s ‘Comment’ series, this content strand is where the author of the article issues their personal opinion on the topic at hand….

Having this week parted company with manager, Jack Ross, Sunderland face a decision on who to appoint as a successor. 

Sunderland have endured a somewhat mixed start to their League One campaign, following play-off heartbreak last time out. With many expecting Sunderland to be promoted at the first time of asking, there is even more expectation this time around with patience wearing thin ultimately costing Jack Ross his job on Wearside.

With Ross’ tenure coming to a close, it presents a fresh start for Sunderland and a chance to gain a march on the automatic promotion hunt.  An international break has meant that Sunderland’s home fixture against Fleetwood has been postponed due to international call-ups. This gives Sunderland a slightly longer period to appoint their man and give him the chance to get a good look at the squad before they return to action on the 19th October against Wycombe.

With this in mind, the manager who most fits the bill to fulfil the potential of Sunderland’s squad and restore their Championship status is current Wycombe manager, Gareth Ainsworth. 

Under Ainsworth, Wycombe have enjoyed a huge turnaround in fortunes, from being perennial strugglers in League Two to promotion challengers in League One. All of these achievements came in a time where there was huge financial stress on the club meaning Ainsworth had to work very shrewdly in the transfer market to find great value in low-budget signings, while his rivals were spending money beyond the Chairboys’ means.

From a Sunderland perspective, what they could expect to see if Ainsworth is appointed is a manager who is very effective in his man-management and how he is able to get the best out of a squad. Speaking to the Roker Report, BBC commentator, Phil Catchpole, stated: "Gaz is a proper coach and man manager who gets the best out of players. He is very interested in the character of a player and if someone isn’t prepared to graft and integrate then they will be on their way, regardless of their abilities.

"He can certainly deal with pressure too.

"At Wycombe he has lead the entire club from the brink of going out of existence to where they are today, all with the backdrop of having hardly any resources. He is brutally honest and unbelievably positive, even in the bleakest of situations. A different kind of pressure maybe, but he has passed this test at Wycombe with flying colours."

What has grown Ainsworth as a manager over the past five years has been his ability to find great success with his Wycombe team whilst competing with teams on budgets astronomical in comparison to his own, and has developed tactically to find ways to gain the advantage regardless of the mismatch of wealth.

Sunderland have a squad more than capable of gaining automatic promotion and a new manager may have been just what they need to unlock this potential. Gareth Ainsworth appears to be the standout candidate with his proven track record of improving the players at his disposal whilst being an influential man-manager, something that portions of this talented Black Cats squad will relish in.