Sunderland coach target 'open' to job as he says he 'needs to end his vacation'

Reports in Poland claim Marek Popszun is interested in Sunderland as he gets ready to end 'vacation' from football.

Michael Graham | Feb 21, 2024

Sunderland coach target 'open' to job as he says he 'needs to end his vacation' /

Marek Papszun is ‘open’ to the possibility of replacing Michael Beale as Sunderland boss, reports in Poland claim.

The 49-year-old has been out of work since the end of last season, when he stunned the public in his homeland by walking away from Rakow Czestochowa after leading them to the Ekstraklasa title.

That title was the pinnacle of an incredible journey for Papszun, who took over when the club were in the third tier of the Polish game just seven years prior.

He was one of the first names to be linked with the Sunderland job following Beale’s sacking on Monday, and the Polish press have also suggested he is a legitimate candidate.

Since quitting Rakow he has not been short on offers, with Legia Warsaw, the Polish National Team and Premier League Brighton all pursuing him.

Papszun has been on a Jurgen Klopp-style break to re-energise since last summer, but he himself has said he is now ready to take on a new challenge.

“This forced me to reflect and summarize,” Papszun said in February when accepting his 2023 coach of the year award.

“And this is the conclusion I came to: we need to end our vacation and get back to work. Time is running out, young people are pushing.

“Other coaches are not idle, so because I like competition, I have to take up this challenge.”

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Published Feb 21, 2024

MICHAEL GRAHAM

Michael Graham is a professional sports writer with more than ten years of industry experience. After pursuing football writing by helping establish the Roker Report Sunderland AFC fansite, Michael moved to Planet Sport to cover football. Michael has since worked on many of the sports sites within the Planet Sport network, including Football365, TEAMtalk and Planet Football before leaving to join 90min. As well as football, Michael is an accomplished tennis writer and has been regularly featured on Tennishead, TennisBuzz and Tennis365. It is football that is his first love, though, with Sunderland AFC his particular passion. Contact: michael@buzzpublishing.co.uk