Mike Dodds looks very unlikely to be taking over the permanent Sunderland reins come the end of the Championship season now, failing to inject new life into the Black Cats' season ever since Michael Beale's departure at the back end of 2023.
The interim Sunderland boss has won just three of the 13 games he's been in charge of in the league since Beale's dismissal, with the former Rangers manager perhaps harshly kicked out of the job upon reflection.
Still, the Wearside strugglers won't dwell over what went wrong with Dodds in the hot seat for too long with this exciting manager in line to take over next to try and bring back positivity to the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland manager news
The search is well underway for Dodds' successor, with the Black Cats even being linked with an ex-player now who used to line up in the centre-back spots for the Black Cats during their recent Premier League past.
John O'Shea, when speaking to the No Tippy Tappy Football Podcast about the managerial vacancy, stated that he would 'love' to become Sunderland's next manager, having amassed 256 appearances for the Wearside outfit during his celebrated playing days.
This potential appointment would represent a huge risk for the underperformers, however, with the Irishman only ever experiencing the managerial game as a coach or assistant manager to date.
Moreover, with the failure of Beale stinging still on top of Dodds' lack of success, Sunderland cannot gamble on O'Shea to come good as their next rash call in the dugout.
Instead, Sunderland should go all out to try and steal this manager from a fellow second-tier side especially if the club in question fall through the Championship trapdoor at the end of the campaign when facing off against the Black Cats.
Sunderland's perfect O'Shea alternative
Sheffield Wednesday will be desperately hoping they can keep Danny Rohl past this gruelling second-tier campaign, with the German boss allowing the Owls to dream about pulling off an incredible relegation escape since coming in when things looked doomed last October.
Previous Wednesday boss Xisco Munoz had failed to win any of his opening ten Championship games as boss before Rohl swooped in to save the day, with the former Watford manager also over overseeing just two draws from those abject league games.
Fast forward to the present, however, Rohl has managed to pick up Wednesday from off the floor when all hope looked lost.
Manager
Games managed
Won
Drawn
Lost
Rohl
36
14
6
16
Munoz
12
1
2
9
Sourced by Transfermarkt
The popular 34-year-old has collected an impressive 13 wins from 33 second tier games, with the 3-1 win away at Blackburn Rovers last match lifting the South Yorkshire side remarkably out of the relegation spots for the time being.
Described as being an "unbelievable" figure on the sidelines by goalscoring hero at the weekend in Josh Windass when speaking to Sky Sports, with the 30-year-old even opening up that Rohl is the "best head coach he's ever worked with", it's not a shock to see that Sunderland reportedly want a slice of the German in the summer.
The Black Cats would hope Rohl could have a similar revitalising presence on proceedings in Wearside as he has at Hillsborough, kickstarting a potential promotion charge after allowing Wednesday to believe they could stave off relegation at the opposite end of the division.
With the popular Owls boss also getting a tune out of the youngsters at his disposal this season, seen in 18-year-old Bailey Cadamarteri bagging five goals, this could be a match made in heaven if Sunderland can pull off a deal.