4. René Meulensteen
When it comes to potential candidates for the Sunderland job, only a few have better CV's than René Meulensteen. The Dutchman spent six seasons working as Sir Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United and a further six years as coach of the youth and reserve teams at Old Trafford. During his time as first team coach, Meulensteen helped Ferguson secure three Premier League titles, the Community Shield, League Cup, UEFA Champions League and FIFA Club World Cup. The 49-year-old also served as an assistant coach to Guus Hiddink at Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala after his departure from United following new manager David Moyes's decision to bring in his own backroom team. Hiddink left Anzhi after only two games into the 2013-14 Russian Premier League season and Meulensteen assumed the role as manager, but was sacked and replaced by Gadzhi Gadzhiyev after 16 games in charge. Meulensteen certainly has the experience to cut it in the Premier League and his former ties with United could assist the Black Cats in procuring the services on-loan of a number of youngsters.
Joseph Dempsey
Contributor
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
See more from
Joseph