Brentford manager is confident Coleman is the man to turn things around
Chris Coleman needs time to turn things around at Sunderland, those are the words of Brentford manager Dean Smith after his side were victorious over the Black Cats at the Stadium of Light last night.
Smith who took over as the Bees manager in 2015 saw his side take all the three points back to Griffin Park with goals from Kamo Mokotjo and Neal Maupay, in their 2-0 win.
The Brentford manager pointed to former Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, as he described how a club can get back on the right path is the right manager is backed to get it right, as Steve Bruce’s Aston Villa side target promotion this season.
Speaking after last Saturday's match Smith said:
“First half we came out of the blocks very well and we played as well as we have for a while.
“In the second half we weren’t as great but you go anywhere on the road, score two goals and keep a clean sheet (and) you’re happy.
“We knew they would change something at half-time but we went in front with a well-worked goal. The only disquiet from me at half-time was that we were only two goals up and the scoreline wasn’t as comfortable as I would have liked.
“We came out of the traps very well, we spoke about starting on the front foot and we came and did that. They had a great comeback last week and we wanted to dampen that as quickly as we could.
“We all saw what happened with Aston Villa last season and Steve Bruce has turned that round there, and I think Chris can do the same at Sunderland.
Any job is tough when you’ve been going through a tough period of results, it’s up to Chris to turn around that slump but I think he can."
After Saturday's loss, Sunderland now remain joint bottom of the Sky Bet Championship, three points from safety.
The Black Cats now go to relegation rivals Bolton on Tuesday night looking for three points.
Last time Sunderland went up against Phil Parkinson's side they picked up a point at the Stadium of Light in Simon Greyson's final game in charge.
Credit to Sky Sports for the imagery used in this article.