Sunderland have some big decisions to make at the end of the season.
Sunderland have yet to hold talks with Corry Evans and Bradley Dack about their futures at the club, with interim head coach Steve Bruce stating that both are completely focused on making a successful return to senior football in the remaining eight games of the season.
The two are expected to be named to the bench at Cardiff City after successfully completing their comebacks in U21 football over the international break, providing much-needed experience and depth to the Dodds side.
Both are out of contract this summer, however Sunderland can offer Dack a one-year deal. Dodds said he couldn’t speak more highly of either, but said it was probably too early to predict what would happen during the summer.
“I’m not aware of any talks on that at the moment, I think my priority and their priority is just getting back on the pitch,” Dodds said in a statement.
“I’m sure that’ll be in the back of their minds, and I’m sure the club is considering it. But in terms of priorities, Corry has been out for 13 months, so simply getting back out on the grass will be a great relief and confidence boost. Same with Dacky; I believe the most important thing for them is to go back on the pitch. I can’t speak highly enough of both of them in terms of character, but I’m not sure where they or the club see their future.
Dodds said he expects to have some say in all contract choices at the end of the season, which is usual practice for top coaching staff members.
“I’m sure they’ll ask my opinion,” he went on to say.
“There’s a kind of a narrative that the folks at the top make the decisions and we only find out at the end. I don’t think that’s entirely true. Don’t get me wrong: the whole goal of having a sports director model is to preserve the club’s long-term future so that a manager doesn’t come in and bring in all the players he wants, resulting in a never-ending cycle of new managers, new players, and so on. But, in a variety of jobs, I’ve always been a part of those conversations. How much they want to listen to me is up to them, but in all those decisions, contracts, agreements, and so on, I’ve been in probably three quarters of those meetings.”
