Richard Mennear, Mark Donnelly and James Copley reacted to Phil Parkinson’s sacking during the latest edition of The Roar Podcast and they spent some time talking about the possibility of ex-Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips becoming the next permanent manager of the North-East club during the show.
Phillips, who joined Sunderland in July 1997 and remained at the Stadium of Light until August 2003, was linked with the Black Cats manager’s position just over a year ago before Parkinson was given the job when the North-East club was trying to find a replacement for Jack Ross and, at the time, he indicated that he would be interested in the position.
During this recent edition of The Roar Podcast, the three journalists on the panel discussed the possibility of the 47-year-old ex-England international taking the reins at the Stadium of Light following the departure of Parkinson and Copley indicated that he doesn’t think Phillips would be a good choice as Parkinson’s permanent successor, saying: (10:55)
“The obvious one that a lot of fans may call for is Kevin Phillips, he might potentially come in under Nigel Pearson as a coach or assistant manager.
“I wouldn’t want Kevin Phillips to get the job permanently as a manager, I just think he’s too inexperienced at this point, I think it’s a massive job, huge club.
“Yes, he understands the fans and he knows the club but it’s a big responsibility to take when you’ve just done a bit of coaching and I think he’s been out of coaching for a little while as well, he hasn’t had a job anywhere.”
Would you like to see Phillips as Sunderland manager?
YES
NO
TIF Thoughts on what Copley had to say about the possibility of Phillips becoming Sunderland boss…
While Phillips does have history at the Stadium of Light and he may well be a popular choice amongst the club’s supporters, given that during his time at the club as a player, he managed to win the European Golden Shoe in the 1999/00 season, so, perhaps Sunderland supporters would associate him with more successful times, with the club currently enduring the lowest period in its history.
However, we feel that Copley is right in suggesting that Phillips doesn’t have enough experience to be a reliable choice for the Black Cats’ manager’s position, as the 47-year-old has never been a first-team manager before.
As a result, perhaps it would be fair to say that alternative options to Phillips with more experience of being a first-team manager would be safer selections for the position.