Sheffield United's Championship rivals to lose boss in stunning managerial switch

Earlier this week Michael O’Neill was sacked from his job at Stoke City after almost three years in charge at the Bet365 Stadium.

The club stated in their announcing of the perhaps unsurprising news given the Potters start to a season that has garnered just one win, that work would begin immediately to bring in a replacement and they haven’t taken long at all.

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The subject of their focus and the subsequent quickfire movement is surprising however, with a deal looking likely to be done very soon that will see Sunderland lose manager Alex Neil as the Scot heads for Staffordshire.

The Star’s sister paper in the North East, Sunderland Echo report, the club say they will battle to keep him, however, it seems increasingly likely that Neil’s time on Wearside is up and he will move to Championship rivals Stoke City.

Neil led the Black Cats back to the Championship last season after a prolonged spell in League One, by way of a Play-Off victory which saw them beat Sheffield Wednesday in the semi-finals and then see off Wycombe Wanderers in the decider.

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And they have performed well so far, too, with only Sheffield United beating them in this fledgling campaign.

A club statement on Friday afternoon read: “Sunderland AFC can confirm that Alex Neil has entered into discussions with Stoke City regarding their current managerial vacancy.

“Following a formal approach by SCFC, the Club is contractually obliged to permit the Head Coach to start a dialogue with the Potters.

“The Club is committed to retaining Alex’s services as Head Coach and will be making no further comment at this moment in time.”