Chris Coleman: 'Sunderland is the biggest club I might ever manage'
Chris Coleman has described Sunderland as 'the biggest club I might ever manage' after admitting he had taken on a 'daunting' task in attempting to revive the fortunes of the ailing Wearsiders.
Expressing his excitement at a return to domestic club management for the first time since 2010, the 47-year-old insisted he can succeed where a long line of his predecessors have failed in turning round the fortunes of the Championship's bottom club, who sacked Simon Grayson after just four months at the end of October and face the very real prospect of successive relegations.
Coleman, who has signed a two-and-a-half year contract, could hardly have chosen a club at a lower ebb at which to make the immediate jump from international management with Wales. Sunderland are four points adrift of safety after just one victory in 17 league games. They are without a home win for 11 months, a run spanning a league record 20 matches.
He will have limited funds to implement much-needed changes to a squad desperately short on confidence, and after becoming the club's ninth manager in six years, he insisted: "I've come into this job with my eyes open. I know I won't be able to splash the cash but this is a fantastic opportunity. If you're a manager, you can go through your career without having managed a big club.
"Even at the bottom of the Championship, this is still a big club and one that was too big for me to turn down. It might be the biggest club that I ever manage. Managers have sat here before and thought the same thing, I know that. I have a big opportunity to manage a seriously big football club. It's daunting, we are standing on the edge of the cliff, and we need to move backwards. Someone will get it right here, so why not me?"
Coleman revealed that a 'difference of ideas' with the Football Association of Wales led to the end of his highly-successful reign as national coach. He chose his words carefully in an attempt not to sour what has been a memorable five-and-a-half years in charge that saw him guide his country to the semi-finals of the European Championships last year.
He added:"Once it was made apparent that I had different ideas to the powers that be with Wales, I felt it was time to move. I didn't think I was the right man to take Wales forward in the direction I wanted to, and once I had a conversation with (Sunderland chief executive) Martin Bain, I was very impressed with what he had to say.
Coleman re-iterated his wish to be succeeded by a fellow Welshman, with compatriot Tony Pulis immediately installed among the favourites to lead the Principality following his dismissal by West Bromwich Albion.
"I'm not going to be negative about the Welsh FA," Coleman added. "I'm a fiercely proud Welshman and I wish them well going forward because that job was a pleasure for me, the biggest honour I have ever had and I'm grateful for the experience of managing my country.
"Who would I like to take over? Another Welshman. We've promoted the Welsh say, so it would be hypocritical to go with a foreign coach now. We have to believe in the people we have in the system. I can't give you a specific name, that will be up to the FAW."
