Sunderland's next head coach update, recruitment plans and what next for 'the model' - summer plans explained

Sunderland's disappointing second half of the Championship campaign came to an end with the 2-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday last Saturday, confirming their 16th-place finish.

Attention is now turning to a huge summer, including the appointment of a new head coach and a partial squad build. So what's the last and what can fans expect next? Here we answer the three key questions as they stand...

What's the latest on the head coach search and who is in the frame?

Sunderland's search is now entering the final stages after the conclusion of the campaign, and is now clearly the main focus for the club hierarchy as they look to get Michael Beale's permanent successor in place for what will be a busy summer of rebuilding.

The Echo's understanding is that an appointment is not at this stage imminent, and so the nervous wait for supporters to see who will be tasked with leading a play-off push next season is likely to go on a little while yet. Sunderland's logic in opting not to immediately appoint after Beale's departure was that they would be better served taking time to reflect on what had gone wrong in their previous appointment - and to give themselves the time to run a thorough process to try and get a better outcome next time around. Most crucially, the experience in searching for Tony Mowbray's replacement had made clear that there would be a wider pool of high-calibre candidates in the summer. With many leagues yet to finish and futures still in some cases being weighed up, Sunderland's process still has a little left to run. The downside of the club's patient approach is clearly that it has left something of a leadership vacuum at the club in recent months, and the dismal end to the campaign means there is widespread apathy amongst the fanbase. This approach means the stakes have risen considerably and getting the appointment right is pivotal if the club's project is to continue to command support from fans next season and beyond.

Sunderland's criteria for the new head coach hasn't changed significantly, they are still looking for a candidate with an elite coaching background and a proven track record in playing development. Where they may have learned some lessons from the Beale era is in also understanding the importance of that candidate being able to build a rapport with fans and being able to handle the unique pressures of leading one of the UK's biggest clubs.

Danny Rohl is known to be admired for his outstanding work at Sheffield Wednesday this season and his coaching background, but he will have many suitors and the early talks over his future at Hillsborough are understood to have been positive. Will Still is an obvious candidate, admired by the club hierarchy and now a free agent after leaving Stade de Reims last week. Still is eager to return to the UK and is willing to drop down to the Championship in order to do so, though he is likely to be highly-sought after. Rene Maric, currently working at Bayern Munich, is another name who has been heavily linked with the position. Our understanding is that Maric has previously been a strong contender for the position and as such is clearly highly-thought of, but he has not at this stage emerged as a significant contender this time around. Clearly, these things can change quickly.

It's also worth pointing out at this stage that the time Sunderland have taken through this process means they have spoken to and assessed a huge number of candidates, many of which have not been in the public domain. Some of those will still be in the running as the process enters what will hopefully be the final couple of weeks.

Does this mean recruitment and planning for next season is on hold?

No. The head coach will be expected to work with Sunderland's existing coaching staff (with perhaps an addition of their own) and within the club's existing football and recruitment structure. As such, much of the planning for pre season has already been done by those in situ and decisions have already been made on those out of contract this summer. Recruitment meetings began last month to assess what positions Sunderland might need to recruit in, and they will step up over the next couple of weeks as they begin to move towards assessing and selecting targets.

Clearly, it would be a major boost to have a head coach in situ as those talks begin - allowing them to have their own input and give a sense of their own demands and needs going forward. At this stage they haven't lost much in terms of time for getting the squad together for next season and giving the new boss time to settle, but that will begin to change if still unresolved towards the end of the month.

After such a disappointing second half to the season, are Sunderland going to change the much-debated 'model'? What do we know about that the team will look like next season at this stage?

Mike Dodds has made clear that Sunderland supporters shouldn't expect a major overhaul of the club's strategy. Sunderland's commitment to signing players with future upside and giving them a prolonged opportunity in the first team is absolute - they'll field one of if not the youngest side in the division again next season.

Where there might be a slight change is that their recruitment might look a little difference to last summer, where the vast majority of players recruited were inexperienced at the level. Dodds has made clear that Sunderland feel they do need to add one or two more experienced Championship players, though he has added that by experience he means in terms of appearances rather than necessarily referring to age. Sunderland aren't going to deviate from their general strategy, but the results over the last few months have told their own story and there is an acceptance behind the scenes that a lack of squad depth was exposed when key figures in the starting XI were absent due to injury and suspension. The plan is to address that this summer, and that is exactly what supporters are expecting as they look to see a squad built that can sustain a push for the play-offs at the very least next season.

There has also been an acceptance behind the scenes that the style of play has fallen away considerably since the departure of Tony Mowbray, and the appointment of a new head coach and the summer recruitment will in part be designed to address that. Both Beale and Dodds looked to address what they felt were Sunderland's shortcomings out of possession in the first half of the campaign, trying to shore up the side and cut out what they felt were soft goals. While Dodds in particular had some success on that front, the dial clearly swung too far in the other direction and by the end of the campaign many fans felt uninspired by the football they were watching. Sunderland want to try and find the balance between the two, though you would hope that the experience of the first half of the campaign has taught them that it's better to fall short by being adventurous.