On this day in 2018, Chris Coleman was sacked as Sunderland manager. The Welshman had failed to change Sunderland's fortunes, and the Lads were relegated to League One.
Before going into management, Coleman carved out a successful playing career. He began as a teenager with Manchester City, but moved to his hometown of Swansea without making a senior appearance.
Coleman’s debut came when he was just 17 years old, going on to make almost 200 appearances in Wales in just four years. He then moved back to England with Crystal Palace in 1991, where he would play in the Premier League. A defender by trade, Chris scored an impressive 16 goals in 143 games- a 1 in 9 record which is explained by the fact gaffer Steve Coppell used to play him as a makeshift striker.
After a brief spell with Blackburn, ‘Cookie’ (he got that nickname at school, where kids likened his eating habits to those of the Cookie Monster) moved south to Fulham. He would captain the club, and eventually retired with the Cottagers in 2002 after breaking his leg in a car crash, effectively ending his career as he was never able to fully recover.
Coleman moved into gaffer Jean Tiaga’s coaching staff, becoming caretaker towards the end of the 2002/03 season and helping them escape relegation. He was named permanent manager in May, despite the bookies’ favourite being former Sunderland player George Burley.
With the help of stars such as Edwin Van Der Sar, Louis Saha and a certain Steed Malbranque, Fulham finished in the top half of the Premier League table in Coleman’s first season as a full-time manager.
However, the big names were quickly sold, and Coleman’s Fulham struggled. He did manage to keep them afloat for several seasons, and his sacking in 2007 came as somewhat of a surprise- although he had been on a seven-game winless streak.
Spells abroad with Real Sociedad and Greek side AEL came after, as well as a stint as Coventry boss. It was in his next job though that Coleman would see his biggest success. He was named Wales manager in 2012, ahead of the Euros in Poland and Ukraine.
Wales didn’t qualify for the 2014 World Cup, and in 2015 Coleman said he was considering resigning. However, everything changed in Euro 2016. When they qualified for the competition, it was their first qualification for a major tournament since 1958.
In the group stage they beat Slovakia and Russia, finishing top of their group despite a 2-1 loss to the mighty England, who were making Harry Kane take corners. A Gareth McAuley own goal helped them through the round of 16 with a 1-0 win over Northern Ireland, in a tense affair.
Then came a tricky game against Belgium in the quarter-finals, with the Red Devils overwhelming favourites to progress. Radja Nainggolan put Belgium ahead early on, but Coleman masterminded a comeback which will go down as one of Wales’ greatest ever sporting achievements.
Captain Ashley Williams equalised after half an hour, and free agent Hal Robson-Kanu gave them the lead with a world-class Cruyff turn and finish. They soaked up pressure in a nerve-shredding second half, but right-back Chris Gunter broke free down the wing after 85 minutes. Coleman, understandably wanting to run down the clock and not squander possession, shouted "Don't cross that f***ing ball Christopher!”. Gunter ignored the instructions, and set up Sam Vokes to make it 3-1.
Despite losing to Portugal in the semi-finals, Coleman had brought immense pride to the Wales National Team and created a memory that would never be forgotten.
He signed a two-year contract extension as Wales headed into World Cup 2018 qualifications, but resigned on 17 November after failing to qualify. Just two days later, with his stock at an all-time high, he came to Wearside replacing the ever-inspirational Simon Grayson.
His arrival was well-documented on the Netflix series Sunderland Til I Die, and Coleman was tasked with escaping relegation- despite the team being bottom of the Championship, his appointment was seen as a step in the right direction. He said all the right things, claiming he wanted to ‘get the stadium rocking and rolling again’.
Chris, who never met or spoke to Ellis Short during his time at SAFC, was quickly told that the chairman wasn’t willing to invest in January and wanted to sell the club. This was news to Chris, who didn’t realise the true size of the job he’d taken on.
We got off to a losing start, a 2-1 defeat at Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa, but the positives were there and in the following game we went to Burton and won 2-0 on November 25th. Incredibly, It was our first win since August 13th.
We beat Coleman’s former side Fulham at home, thanks to a late Josh Maja goal. It was our first home win in 364 days. I’m sorry for subjecting you to reading about this awful, abject season that you probably want to erase from your memory.
We all know we were relegated at the end of the season, and a fan called Chris a prick; Coleman retorted with the ludicrous comeback: “You’re calling me a prick? I’m a married man with six kids!”. Add that to his Netflix highlight reel, along with dodging the office Secret Santa by pretending to be excited by a Freddo. Ellis Short eventually sold the club, with Coleman getting sacked as soon as our ‘saviours’ Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven came to Wearside with no money in their pockets and riding a wave of positivity and lies.
Overall, Chris Coleman’s time on Wearside is a hard one to judge. He had no money, inherited a toxic squad that were already adrift at the bottom, and seemed to genuinely care about the fans and the people at the club. On the other hand, he seemed to have no tactical flexibility, sticking to a back five at every opportunity and playing Ashley Fletcher up front instead of Maja and Asoro. Let’s not forget he was the man who brought Lee Camp to the club in January, which was a major red flag.
Chris Coleman was most recently in charge of Greek side Atromitos where he guided them to the top of the relegation play off group. He is currently unemployed. You could say that his career has never been the same since he took the Sunderland job.
