Sunderland reportedly give Alex Neil permission to talk to Stoke City, after press briefing delayed

Sunderland face a fight to keep hold of head coach Alex Neil, with Stoke City keen to bring him to the bet365 Stadium

James Hunter Sunderland AFC Writer

11:42, 26 Aug 2022Updated 11:42, 26 Aug 2022

Sunderland head coach Alex Neil(Image: PA)

Sunderland boss Alex Neil has reportedly been given permission to talk to Stoke City about their managerial vacancy. That development - reported by Sky Sports journalist Keith Downie - comes after Neil was installed last night as the bookies' favourite to take over at Stoke.

And it would explain why Sunderland's scheduled media preview ahead of tomorrow's home game against Norwich City was delayed this morning and eventually postponed. Neil was due to speak to the media at 9am but, after a delay of around half-an-hour, Neil had still not appeared although ChronicleLive was told that he was at the training ground and in a meeting which meant he was running late.

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At 9.45am a member of the club's media team said that the preview would be moved to 2pm but, when asked by ChronicleLive, confirmed at that stage it would still be conducted by Neil. Neil took training at the Academy of Light as normal this morning and it is possible that further talks will be held in which Sunderland will try to keep hold of the Scot.

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Neil has emerged as Stoke's preferred candidate to fill the vacancy left following Michael O'Neill's sacking yesterday. O'Neill paid the price after winning just one of his first five games in charge, and it was a defeat at the hands of Sunderland at the bet365 Stadium last weekend that proved the final straw for the former Northern Ireland boss.

It is no surprise that Neil should attract interest from elsewhere given that he led Sunderland to promotion from League One via the play-offs last season after taking over in February, but he remains on the same rolling 12-month contract he signed when he arrived at Wearside.

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