Former Sunderland forward Michael Bridges has admitted that he tried to convince the Black Cats to appoint Ange Postecoglu as the club's manager back in 2017. The Australian has done a terrific job since joining Celtic last summer but Bridges attempted to get him to Sunderland before Chris Coleman was appointed in November 2017. This was during the season where the Black Cats were relegated to League One.
Coleman spent just five months in charge, winning five of his 29 games in charge as Sunderland finished inside the Championship bottom three. Jack Ross, Phil Parkinson and Lee Johnson have since tried to turn the club around but found it tough to do so, while Alex Neil is now trying his best to get the Black Cats back to the second-tier.
It has been a tough few years for Sunderland, but it could've been a whole lot different if Postecoglu was given a chance. And Bridges has revealed how he tried to get the former Australia manager to the club.
He told the GegenPod Football Podcast : "You've got to look at Ange Postecoglu and I still tell the story at Sunderland and I wanted Ange to get the Sunderland job before Chris Coleman did. I was speaking to Martin Bain about it and I said 'get this guy in, he'll change the culture of your club and he's a serial winner'. And his comments were that he's never heard of this guy.
"He's won the Asian Cup and that just shows you how much of a bubble people live in. But I'm delighted Ange has gone and broken the trend now. He's gone to Celtic and is at a massive club.
"The media gave him crap from day one and Ange handle it like you wouldn't believe it. He said he will do his talking on the field and he's done that. He is breaking the trend. A lot of stuff came from Leeds fans with Jesse Marsch and some questioned what was going on and who is this guy. He's won things and I like his personality."
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