'He's massively respected' - Dan Neil welcomes Mike Dodds return as Sunderland head coach
Dan Neil says Mike Dodds is 'massively respected' by the Sunderland squad as he welcomed his appointment as interim head coach.
Dodds will take charge of Sunderland against Swansea City this weekend and he will hold the position until the end of the season at least following the sacking of Michael Beale.
It will be his third spell as Sunderland head coach and second this season alone, and the first one certainly went well with him winning two of his three games in charge - both against teams in the top five in the Championship.
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Neil will surely play a key role again in the Sunderland midfield this weekend, and he says Dodds commands the respect of every one of the players.
“He's a massively respected figure within the dressing room, “Neil told safc.com.
“I think everyone knows how influential he's been over the last few years and the rise of us up through League One, last year in the playoffs and a lot this year as well.
“All the boys respect him, all the boys respect his beliefs and his tactics and, you know, we're looking forward to going out on Saturday and doing what he wants to do.
“We've got full belief that if we do that, we can come away with something good on Saturday and build some momentum to finish the season off.”
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