THE SUNDERLAND PLAYERS WHOSE FUTURES WILL BE 'RESOLVED' THIS WEEK AS MIKE DODDS OUTLINES PLANS
Sunderland are stepping up their planning for next season after the end of the Championship campaign
Mike Dodds says meetings will take place this week to 'resolve' the futures of those Sunderland players currently not under contract for next season.
Dodds has already begun the process of meeting with each member of the senior squad to reflect on their season and to establish areas of improvement over the summer and moving into pre-season. Those meetings will continue this week, while Dodds will also be part of the club hierarchy meeting to step up the summer recruitment planning. The interim boss is also expecting an update on the search for a new head coach, having focused on he final fixtures of the Championship campaign in recent weeks.
Sunderland are also expected to offer clarity to Corry Evans and Bradley Dack, the two senior players currently in the senior squad whose contracts expire this summer. A decision will also be made on Callum Styles, currently on loan from Barnsley. Sunderland have an option to convert the loan into a permanent deal this summer.
“There’s some meetings planned for next week and there’ll be conversations over the next few days that will resolve a number of things," Dodds said.
"We’ve got some players who have been out on loan that will be coming back to the football club, and we need to have a bit of a touchpoint with them in terms of their reflections and the feedback we’ve had from those clubs. We’ve got individual meetings planned with a number of players in terms of giving them individual feedback, which I think is really important. I’ve said that I have to learn from this process to move forward, I think the club have to learn from what’s happened, and the players have to learn too. I’ve got meetings planned with all the players individually. I’ve had some already, and I’ve got more scheduled for next week, which will be individual feedback on where they’ve been in terms of their performance on the pitch and where they’ve been in terms of their performance off the pitch too. I want to make sure they’re really clear on the expectations for next season."