Sunderland send for wisdom of Wilkinson

Howard Wilkinson and Steve Cotterill are not the most charismatic management team ever to take charge of Sunderland, but they are without doubt the most qualified.

The choice of the Football Association's 58-year-old technical director and the 38-year-old manager of Stoke City to replace Peter Reid, a man who often led through sheer force of personality, represents a major shift of emphasis at the Stadium of Light. Although Reid possessed a wonderful instinct for football, honed in championship-winning sides, he rarely took training. Wilkinson and Cotterill, by contrast, are two of 13 Britons to hold a Uefa pro licence, Europe's highest coaching qualification.

Since the Sunderland chairman, Bob Murray, who underwrote £22m of spending in Reid's final lacklustre months on Wearside, indicated there would be no money available to spend even when the transfer window reopens in January, the honing of players' techniques will be a prime consideration. Wilkinson, returning to club football six years and one month after being sacked by Leeds in the wake of a 4-0 home defeat by Manchester United, joked that of the back-room appointments he still had to make, that of chief scout was the least pressing.

"We will prepare the players in a way that is as modern and forward-thinking as anywhere in the world. I can guarantee that, but that alone is not the answer," he promised. "With my experience and Steve's undoubted ability, I see bright and exciting times ahead for Sunderland."

Niall Quinn will be kept on in his role as player-coach, but since he has no qualifications in that department it is hard to see how he would fit into what will be a rigorous new regime.

The appointment of Cotterill as a young, high-profile No 2 alongside the experience of Wilkinson echoes Leicester's decision to replace Peter Taylor with Dave Bassett and Micky Adams. Although there is no pre-agreement that Cotterill, who guided Cheltenham from the Conference to the Second Division, will take over from Wilkinson, it is likely he will be groomed for the long-term succession. Both have signed three-year contracts.

"If you are scared to employ people who are better than you, you should not be in the job," said Wilkinson when asked if it was dangerous having such an obvious replacement sitting alongside him. "Steve will contribute a lot more than other people and sooner or later he will be a successful manager either at Sunderland or elsewhere."

While Wilkinson left the FA, where he has been technical director for five years and where he was due to serve until 2004, with the blessing of his former employers, Cotterill's resignation from a post he had held only since May caused rather more disquiet. Murray said there "were no problems" between Sunderland and Stoke over compensation, although many in the Potteries were angered by the speed of Cotterill's departure. Malcolm Clarke of the Stoke Supporters Club said: "I am gobsmacked. I think he has been an excellent manager for Stoke, but it's outrageous he has shown no loyalty."

Both will find that Sunderland's malaise is deep and alarming and it is fortunate that their run of results – five victories in 28 games – has been spread over two seasons. Murray pointed out that one of Wilkinson's attractions was that since going into club management with Boston United in 1972 to replace Jim Smith, he had never been relegated.

"The players have underachieved but they are better than their results," Murray said. "Football can be a fantastic friend but it can also be a vicious enemy and I know players who have been with me before will groan at hearing it again but if you hone a good golf swing you can rely on it when things are going wrong.

"And for Sunderland it's the little things that have been going wrong. Against Fulham, they gave the ball away twice on the edge of their own area and lost two goals after battering the opposition for half an hour. You don't have to be Einstein to realise they have not been scoring enough goals. After that it gets complicated. It is very hard to stay as long as Peter did at one place without winning things or nearly winning things."

His appointment drew mixed reactions in a city where the names of George Graham, David O'Leary and Mick McCarthy had been banded around as Reid's successor. "He won't be the most popular appointment; the fans wanted someone a bit more flamboyant, like Martin O'Neill," said Lawrie McMenemy, who was welcomed when he arrived to manage Sunderland in 1985. Since McMenemy then steered Sunderland to the Third Division and became arguably the most hated man in the club's history, Wilkinson should know that enthusiastic beginnings are no guarantee of long-term popularity.