Dan Ballard opens up on Sunderland AFC manager saga.

Dan Ballard expressed the opinions of the Sunderland players regarding interim head coach Mike Dodds and stated that he and his colleagues haven’t given the matter much thought.

The youthful center defender has played a significant role in Sunderland’s attempts to earn back the supporters’ trust after a disappointing run of play. The Black Cats gained four points between February 10 and their humiliating 5-1 loss to Blackburn Rovers at home on Easter Monday.

This resulted in the full destruction of their play-off aspirations, but the manner in which they were defeated by Rovers appears to have spurred them on, especially after Dodds delivered some harsh words.

Sunderland has played West Bromwich Albion, Leeds United, and Bristol City in their three games since the first day of April; in none of those contests did they allow a goal.

Ballard acknowledged after the game that this has come at a cost, with players wearing red and white stripes only managing one goal in the preceding three games.

The 24-year-old did give the interim manager credit for his handling of the situation following the heartbreaking loss to Blackburn, and he also made some insightful remarks regarding the club’s quest for a new head coach.

Dan Ballard discusses Mike Dodds and the head coach hunt from the dressing room.
The center back stated that neither he nor his teammates are concerned about the issue of who will be the head coach at the beginning of the 2024–2025 season. According to the Sunderland Echo, he stated: “It’s not really talked about. It is useless to try to predict the future. Now is all that matters; pay attention to the man in command right now, and let things unfold as they naturally will.”

Regarding the guy in charge right now, Ballard stated that during Dodds’ second term as an interim manager, the dressing room’s regard for him has grown. “I think he said it himself, the Blackburn game was a learning curve for him, not to come off the players because it was our fault,” remarked the 24-year-old.

“He accepted the responsibility even though it was our fault, demonstrating his skill as a coach. He’s done incredibly well, so we appreciate him. He puts in a lot of effort behind the scenes, so it’s satisfying to be able to provide him positive outcomes.

“I believe that all of the guys respected him a great deal in the past, and we may appreciate him much more now. He’s had to do a great deal of the work himself. He put in a lot of work in the background before, but now that he’s in the spotlight, he feels more pressure. Whatever the outcome, I don’t think it will affect things too much, but we appreciate and like him as a coach.”

Sunderland’s defensive resolve in recent games is encouraging.
It’s no secret that Sunderland has had difficulty scoring goals this year. No other member of the team has scored ten goals or more in the Championship this season save Jack Clarke.

Defensive resoluteness in recent games is encouraging for Sunderland

It’s a well-known fact that Sunderland have struggled in front of goal this season. Other than Jack Clarke, no other player in the squad has scored double-digit goals this season, in the Championship.

What makes it worse is that their strikers have combined for three net-finding shots in the league, in the 23/24 campaign. Ballard is in the side’s top five for league goals scored this season.

Thus, while a deficiency in goals is a well-known problem, the defense’s dismal situation was nearly more concerning because, although it wasn’t their main problem at the time, it turned into one for a while.

Having successfully stabilized the situation within their own box, Dodds now needs to figure out how to be more effective both within and outside of the opposition’s.

Even if they don’t double their output in front of the goal, they will have some comfort in knowing that they have returned to being more reliable in the back.