Sunderland next manager: Former Sheffield United, Leeds United and Barnsley boss among favourites

Mike Dodds is currently in post at the Stadium of Light, overseeing first-team affairs on a temporary basis until the end of the season. The Black Cats are under pressure to ensure their next appointment is the right one, considering they have wielded the axe twice this term.

Tony Mowbray started the season at the helm but was dismissed in December before the club turned to former Rangers boss Michael Beale. Beale’s tenure was short-lived and he was relieved of his duties last month.

Heckingbottom sits among Techopedia’s frontrunners for the role, priced at 9/2 to take the reins on a permanent basis. The 46-year-old has been out of work since December, when he was sacked by Sheffield United with the Blades embroiled in a battle for Premier League survival.

He was replaced by Chris Wilder, a man familiar with the club having previously led the Blades to promotion in both League One and the Championship. However, he has been unable to arrest the slump and Sheffield United are still staring relegation to the second tier in the face.

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Heckingbottom, who also counts Leeds and Barnsley among his former clubs, has been active on media duties since his dismissal and been brutally honest regarding his time at Bramall Lane.

Speaking last month, the former Sheffield United boss claimed the club lost their identity following promotion to the top flight in 2023. He said: “I look at how someone like Luton have gone on – to try and build on what you’ve been doing really, really well, Luton have kept their squad together, recruited in a similar fashion to try and build an identity. We sort of lost our identity, through just the financial problems that we had at the club.”

Only Steve Cooper and Will Still sit above Heckingbottom in the list of favourites, priced at 3/1 and 4/1 respectively.