Sunderland recently appointed Jim Rodwell as their new Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect, making an announcement via their official website on Wednesday. He previously spent five years as CEO at Scunthorpe United and said he was delighted to be joining a club with the ‘stature and pedigree’ of the Black Cats.
Sunderland fan @christoph_21 raised the point on Twitter that Rodwell was serving on the EFL’s panel of officers and professional advisors at the time Sunderland’s current owners acquired the club. What have some of the other supporters made of that?
Do you have suspicions regarding the reasons behind this appointment?
Yes
No
For god sake here you go again. Anything positive to say regarding his experience or suitability for the job?
— Tim (@safctim) April 22, 2020
There is nothing positive to say about his experience or suitability for the job. Boston United almost went into liquidation with him in charge and Scunthorpe ended up in League 2 after he was tasked with getting them into, and established in, the Championship.
— Ryan Honour (@RyanHonour) April 22, 2020
Are you accusing the owners or the EFL of something ?
— Tim Harding #DonaldIn (@timhardinguk) April 22, 2020
— techoes (@techohes) April 23, 2020
?
— CPJ90NE (@cpj90) April 22, 2020
Either they are lying about a takeover being close (highly likely) or they have just appointed one of their mates so he can get a big pay out when the new owners take over and sack him. Either way, another example of the corrupt dealings of Del Boy and Rodney
— Mike Taylor (@MikeyTaylor83) April 22, 2020
What do we think?
Judging by the above responses, there seems to be much suspicion regarding the club’s motives for hiring Rodwell. His appointment comes at an uncertain time for football in general, considering the season is currently suspended and there has been no indication as to when it might resume.
Sunderland currently sit just outside of the play-off positions but only trail the automatic promotion spots by three points, meaning when League One resumes, players will likely need to be at their best from the off.