'You'd listen' - Will Still appears to open door to summer Sunderland move

Will Still has discussed the previous links with Sunderland and why he will listen to offers to coach in the Championship.

Will Still appears to have opened the door to a move to Sunderland by saying he’s happy to take a job in the Championship – as long as that club matches his ambitions.

Still had Reims in the top five of Ligue 1 earlier this season but their chances of achieving anything significant this season has been torpedoed by selling their best players in January.

That appears to have caused a lot of frustration for Still, who says he ‘respects and understands’ the need to sell players as long as it’s not just done to make a profit.

Sunderland hierarchy have destroyed the trust but opportunity remains

This summer he will have just one year left on his Reims contract and, while he insists he is in ‘no rush’ to go anywhere, he certainly seems very open to listening to offers.

"I would work for a Championship team without a problem,” Still told The Athletic. “What I’ve now understood, I’ve now realised, is how important people are. And how important finding the right place to be is going to be for my career. And people who understand the way I work, because I’m a bit different. I’m a bit odd sometimes. If something’s s**t, I want someone to tell me it’s s**t.”

"But if there’s a Championship club that’s ambitious, that wants to work in the right way and be open and honest about things, and really try and push to get somewhere, then I would love to do that.

“Obviously, the Premier League is the ultimate dream for any manager in the world. I’m not in a rush, either. It’s not that, if I come to England, I have to go to the Premier League, or I have to go to this or that club. If something fits then it fits, and I’d be just as happy doing that.

“I’ve never really had a career plan. I’ve never set a timing on anything. I’ve just waited for opportunities to come up; see how it feels, see what it’s like.”

For a week or so in December, it appeared that Still was Sunderland-bound, with reports coming out of France’s top media outlets that he had asked for the job.

He says there was some interest and he’ll always listen to offers, but he was upset about how it was reported in France.

Asked about Sunderland’s interest in December, Still said: "It was a lot of noise for something that never really happened.

“There has been interest, I’m not going to lie about it. I’d rather be open and honest, and I think I was. We’ve had interest. People have wanted to talk to us. This is the reality of the situation."

“It went from an interest from clubs to, ‘Will Still is being arrogant and wants to leave Reims who’ve given him this amazing opportunity.’ I was like, ‘No I don’t. I’m still just me. Any manager in the world would have listened to the offer. If someone offered you a better job, better life, you’d listen. Any human being would listen.’

“But it was just that the wrong story got told. It was ‘Will wants to leave, he’s fed up of Reims, he’s this and that…’ Load of s**t.”

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