On this day in 2022 Lee Johnson was sacked as Sunderland’s head coach following a 6-0 defeat away to Bolton. He was eventually replaced by Alex Neil and the rest is history.
HIS ARRIVAL
On the 5th of December 2020, former Bristol City manager Lee Johnson was appointed as Sunderland headcoach. He succeeded Phil Parkinson in that role, who was sacked a week prior. He was immediately thrown into his duties in the dugout, overseeing a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Wigan Athletic but he was hardly blame because he hadn't had so much as a single training session with the lads yet.
Before coming to Wearside, Johnson had seen relative success with Bristol City. He went to Ashton Gate after spells with Oldham and Barnsley. At Bristol though, Johnson masterminded an EFL Cup run where they got all the way to the semis, defeating Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United along the way.
He split opinion massively at Bristol, and it was there when he was first given the nickname of ‘Streaky Lee’ and that nickname stayed with him as time went on. In his first half-season at Sunderland, he brought the first piece of silverware to the club since 1973. Sunderland had finally won at Wembley. Admittedly, it was the Papa John’s Trophy. Okay, it was behind closed doors. It was also against a sub-par Tranmere side who were in League Two. But it still felt like a memorable moment at the time, with everyone at home glued to their TV screens.
HIS DOWN FALL
Despite putting together a really positive string of results, and getting Sunderland back into the promotion race. Lee Johnson’s side fell apart at the last hurdle. The Lads were two points off second with one game in hand on Peterborough, and four points off top with two games in hand on Hull. However, defeats to Charlton, Wigan, and Blackpool started a six game winless run, and the Lads finished fourth in a three horse race. The play off semi final defeat to Lincoln left many fans calling for his head but Lee Johnson did enough to keep his job in the eyes of the board.
Johnson’s lads started the 21/22 campaign well and sat top of the League One table in August. However, despite the Lads competing for automatic promotion, a considerable number of big defeats left fans questioning whether Johnson was the man to take the club forward. The big defeats were a 4-0 battering at Fratton Park, then a 5-1 hammering at the New York Stadium, followed by a 3-0 beating at Hillsborough, that was then complimented with a 3-1 home defeat to Lincoln, and finally the nail in the coffin, the 6-0 defeat to Bolton.
Lee Johnson was sacked on the 30th of January 2022, and was replaced by former Preston North End manager Alex Neil. The decision divided fans at the time but it turned out to be the right one in the end. In fact, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus said that the change of head coach was the best decision he’s made at the club so far and personally I have to agree. His sacking was the start of the impressive turnaround this club saw until May 2023 that culminated in a play-off semi-final defeat to Luton Town.
