Gus Poyet took what seems certain to be his final training session on Monday morning at Sunderland’s weekday headquarters, the Academy of Light.
When the workout finished the team’s outgoing manager was booked for a meeting with the club’s hierarchy, where he is expected to be told his 17-month tenure in charge on Wearside has ended.
Negotiations to bring Dick Advocaat to the Stadium of Light in a short-term fire-fighting capacity until the end of the season are believed to be well under way, although Lee Congerton, the sporting director, is also considering alternatives.
It is understood that Sunderland’s owner, Ellis Short, the chief executive, Margaret Byrne, and Congerton decided a managerial change was needed during talks on Sunday in the wake of Saturday’s 4-0 home defeat by Aston Villa.
That reverse led to half the near-46,000 crowd vacating the stadium in protest by half-time and left Sunderland only one point above the relegation zone. With Poyet’s team having won only two Premier League games at the Stadium of Light all season and relations between manager and board extremely tense, the scene is set for a separation on Monday.
The Uruguayan has vowed not to resign so it seems Short will have to sack him. Congerton, meanwhile, has begun the task of identifying a caretaker replacement who will be tasked with keeping the team in the Premier League before making way for a longer-term replacement in the summer.
The 67-year-old Advocaat, a former Rangers manager, is out of work after stepping down as Serbia’s coach last November.
With the international break following Saturday’s trip to West Ham United the idea is that Poyet’s successor will have time to work with his players before a vital run-in, starting with a derby against Newcastle United at the Stadium of Light on 5 April.
