Mike Dodds met the press today, ahead of Swansea’s visit this weekend, this is what the Interim Head Coach had to say…
INJURY SPECULATION
"The Jack Clarke one is an interesting one. I’m not a big social media person and am only getting things second and third hand. The information I get from social media is a lot worse than what it is. Jack rolled his ankle against Birmingham, obviously played 90 minutes and was super relaxed. The plan was for him to have a couple of days off and train Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. That hasn’t happened so I think the game tomorrow is probably going to come too early for him, then we’ll assess where we are on Monday. I don’t think he will be out for a month, I think that has been a little bit more sensationalised than it is. Leo is fine so I don’t know where that has come from."
STYLES UPDATE
"Callum has trained fully for the last two weeks and will be in the squad for tomorrow."
LONG TERM INJURIES
“Pat Roberts is still a few weeks away. Pat’s not out on the grass yet. Corry trained with us this morning. He’s been doing little bits with the under-21s. When I say trained with us, I don’t want people to get carried away with that. It was very much bit-part training. It’s welcome news to see someone of Corry’s calibre training with us. Aji and Dacky were out there as well. They part trained with the sports science department then did a little bit with us.”
SEELT
“Jenson in the Leeds performance in particular I thought was excellent on the night. I made a call to change the way we set up which meant Jenson came out of the team. Jenson deserves to have an opportunity to have a run of games in the team to show us where he’s at. He’s trained really well and hopefully in the next few games he can show everyone how good he is.”
MISSING CLARKE
"Without giving too much away, it will be an opportunity for me to maybe tweak and change a few things. I think last time, and I mean this respectfully, I showed I will make decisions that I feel is best for the group. When you have someone like Jack who has been taken out of the team, you have to try and come up with solutions to that. The next few games will be really interesting in terms of team selection."
PLAY OFFS?
“There’s still a lot of football to be played. The league has shown that anyone in the league can lose back-to-back games, so even the teams in front of us are not within touching distance. We’ve got to do what we’ve got to do. It’s not lost on me the magnitude of the football club and the expectation. We’ve got to live up to that. Whether we are good enough or not good enough, that’s the aspiration.”
SWANS
“The performances aren’t as poor as their position in the table. It’s going to be a really tough game against a really good coach. He did really, really well at Notts County. You can see in terms of how he sets his team up they are really well coached. When you look at the Championship now and just the league table, you could have a counter argument to that. Swansea is going to be a really, really tough game. They have a certain style of play, a certain brand of football and a really bright coach.”
BRINGING IN COACH ANTHONY HAYES
"I know of him; I've come across him on the football circuit. I was told on Monday that I would be taking the team We've obviously got Graeme Murty who is with the under-21s and helped me last time and was of huge benefit. I think the club just felt we needed one more. In a short period of time it's always hard to make a decision on someone over a 35 minute Zoom call. You have to one, go with your gut, and go with other people in the building who know him better than I do. One thing I will say is he seems like a really good person, which was important for me that we have someone that could fit into the group quickly. He's a coach who wants to work on the grass and work with the players. On a professional level I know he's a really good coach."
FULL TIME PLACEMENT
“Where I’m at, I’m really respectful of how big this football club is. I’m really respectful that there will be hundreds of people who would love this job and love to be in the position I’m in. I’m not going to come out and say no I don’t want the job because I’m respectful of the fans, I’m respectful of Sunderland as a football club. At the same time, I want to be a head coach one day and I also appreciate that my first opportunity might be my last opportunity. It’s got to be right for me in terms of my process and what I want to do. I wasn’t throwing my name in the hat 12 weeks ago and my position hasn’t changed. I’m more than happy to help out and more than happy to help out with the players and love working at the football club.”
DODDS’ WEEK SO FAR
"I came in on Monday, I went out with a small group, trained with that group, came in for lunch. I had a conversation with the people above me to say they weren’t going to proceed with Mick Beale and said would I be comfortable taking the team - which clearly I am or I wouldn’t be sat here. Straight after that there was a conversation with the players and then the wider staff. Tuesday I kind of led training and was a normal training day. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday has been preparing for Saturday."
EXPECTATIONS OF THE LADS
"I think I understand what the fans want in terms of how they want a Sunderland team to be. I think that is every single game we’ll have a good go. Some we’ll lose, some we’ll win. I appreciate that I'll have to answer questions whatever the outcome is."
THE TONY MOWBRAY SITUATION
"Tony spoke to me after the game on Saturday so I was aware of the situation before it came out on Monday. I felt it was important that the players heard it from me on Monday before it broke on social media, so I spoke to the players on Monday about it. It's amazing when something like this happens to a good man, you don't realise the influence they've had on you. Sunday was a very difficult day for me personally, and the other staff, Alessandro and Michael Proctor, we are really disappointed for Tony. I know the dressing room were upset on Monday. Everyone associated with the football club we wish him all the best. I have spoke to him. I have spoken to Tony. He's obviously going through what he's going through and then in the week he has the class to pick the phone up to me and wish me all the best and say some really nice things about me when he has his own personal things going on. We hope he’s back in the dugout as soon as possible.”
