Before Mowbray: What are Sunderland AFC's last 5 managers up to now? | OneFootball

Despite the circumstances that led to his appointment being far from ideal, in Tony Mowbray, Sunderland appear to have found a manager that can get the best out of their young squad.

Indeed, that was demonstrated last season by the club making the play-offs, and once again this season the Black Cats have started relatively strongly.

But what about life before Tony Mowbray?

In recent years, Sunderland have certainly had an interesting time of it, with several different managers at the helm.

With that said, below, we've looked at where Tony Mowbray's five predecessors are at currently, and what they are up to.

Naturally, we have only looked at permanent managers and excluded caretaker or temporary bosses.

Chris Coleman

To go back to the fifth manager before Mowbray, we have to go all the way back to 2017, when Chris Coleman took charge of the club.

Coleman suffered relegation during his time as Sunderland boss, with the club relegated to League One during the 2017/18 season.

These days, Coleman finds himself managing abroad, taking charge of Greek side Atromitos in the Greek Super League.

This comes after a spell in China between 2019 and 2020 following his departure from Sunderland.

Jack Ross

The second former Sunderland boss we have looked at is Jack Ross.

The Scotsman took charge of Sunderland in May 2018 ahead of the 2018/19 campaign, and went on to manage the club for 75 games.

During his first season in charge, Sundelrand finished fifth in League One, losing in the play-off final at Wembley. However, shortly into his second campaign, Ross was sacked.

These days, Ross is without a job in management. However, following his time at Sunderland, he did have spells with Hibernian and Dundee United north of the border.

Phil Parkinson

Ross was eventually replaced at the Stadium of Light by Phil Parkinson, who is therefore the next Sunderland manager we are looking at on this list.

Parkinson remained in charge of Sunderland for the rest of the 2019/20 season, but he too was unable to guide them to promotion, with the club falling short of the play-offs.

Like Ross, shortly into his second season at the club, Parkinson was relieved of his duties after a slow start in the third tier.

These days, Parkinson is in charge at Wrexham, where he has been since 2021. Parkinson has guided the club back to the Football League by winning the National League last season and is now going about life in League Two.

Lee Johnson

In to replace Parkinson at Sunderland was Lee Johnson.

Like his predecessors, Johnson would be unable to guide Sunderland to promotion, with the club finishing 4th and losing in the play-offs once again in 2020/21.

Johnson did win the EFL Trophy during his time at the club, though.

Johnson recently returned to EFL management after a stint in Scotland with Hibernian, funnily enough, with the 42-year-old now in charge at Fleetwood Town.

Alex Neil

Last but not least, Alex Neil is the fifth and final Sunderland manager we've looked at on this list.

Unlike others above, Neil was able to finally get Sunderland back to the Championship, winning the play-offs during the 2021/22 campaign.

However, he soon soured this early into the following season, when he made a shock exit for Stoke City just weeks into the 2022/23 season.