Tony Mowbray has triggered a 12-month contract extension after leading Sunderland to the Championship play-offs last season - despite a summer of speculation over his future on Wearside. The Black Cats head coach was appointed in August last year on a deal that runs to the end of this season.
But, while Mowbray outperformed all expectations by guiding a team that had come up from League One to a sixth-placed finish in its first season back in the second tier, and has also proved a popular figure with fans and players alike, it did not prevent reports emerging as early as April claiming that the club was lining up a successor. The club has been reluctant to offer the 59-year-old public backing, with sporting director Kristjaan Speakman unwilling to respond to the 'noise and the circus that happens out on social media', while Mowbray himself has seemed relaxed about the situation.
Sunderland have still made no announcement about the head coach's future, but Speakman has indicated that Mowbray's contract included 'incentives' and he says there is a 'significant' amount of time still remaining on his deal. And ChronicleLive understands that, in fact, Sunderland's sixth-placed finish last season triggered a clause extending his contract until the summer of 2025
"Tony has got a significant amount of time left on his contract, so I don't think that's a topic like [some of] the players' contracts," said Speakman. "Anything regarding staff and contracts will happen behind the scenes, but people shouldn't have any concerns about that.
"It'd be unprofessional for me to start diving into the details of people's contracts. Across our staffing structure there's incentivisation and contracts are [to an extent] performance-based, so you can probably make a good assumption that there's some incentives in [Mowbray's contract].
"We can't control the noise out there and I've said that before. We're carrying on as we are, keep our reviews and evaluations as they are, and hopefully we'll keep progressing."
During the run-in last season, a journalist claimed that Italian coach Francesco Farioli was 'on top of [Sunderland's] list' to replace Mowbray, while more names were subsequently linked with the role over the summer. Speakman has dismissed all such reports as speculation and, while he admits it creates 'anxiety', he insists the club will not comment on rumours.
Asked about the perceived 'uncertainty' over Mowbray's position over the summer, he said: "The answer is that there's no uncertainty: Tony is our head coach. He was our head coach last season and he's our head coach now, and he's doing a really, really good job for us.
"The noise and the circus that happens out on social media, that's not something that we’re going to be involved in. It's disappointing because stories come out from all sorts of angles, and is that going to create anxiety?
"Definitely, I think it would for anyone. There's certainly been no uncertainty inside the club, it's just been business as usual.
"I think it's just where football is now, everyone has an opinion and a voice and a social media account. This is a huge football club and it's no different to some of the clubs in the Premier League.
"We've got to stay steadfast with what we're doing, professional with what we're doing and diligent with what we're doing. Those other things are for social media or whatever else it is, that's not for us to be involved in."
Farioli was also linked with a number of other clubs in England and in Europe over the summer, and he was appointed manager of French Ligue 1 club Nice over the summer.
