Lee Johnson reveals whether he expected to be sacked at Sunderland

Former Sunderland manager Lee Johnson has admitted he saw his sacking coming towards the end of his tenure at the Stadium of Light, speaking on the BBC’s 72+ Podcast.

The 40-year-old had been in charge on Wearside for just over a year at the time of his dismissal – and before his last game against Bolton – his tenure looked set to continue for the foreseeable future with the Black Cats going unbeaten in all but one of their league games since the start of November coming into that tie.

Unfortunately, they capitulated in Greater Manchester at the end of January, losing 6-0 to Ian Evatt’s men and that proved to be the final straw for the club’s board, dismissing Johnson from his position.

The Black Cats endured a sticky run of form following his dismissal, but have picked up under successor Alex Neil recently as they look to secure their place in the top six at the end of the 2021/22 campaign.

Johnson was already on course to achieve that with his side, sitting one point adrift of the automatic promotion spots after their hammering at Bolton, though second-placed side Wigan had four games in hand over them at that point.

Still, this decision came as a surprise to many, though it didn’t to the man who was the victim in this situation.

Speaking on the BBC’s 72+ Podcast, Johnson said: “Did I see it coming?

“Listen, there’s always bits and bobs behind the scenes that are not quite right and a football manager at a club, it is a bit like a marriage, it really is.

“And as much as I loved the club and I loved the people there, we were moving in slightly different directions in terms of our principles, our decision making on how we saw the way forward.”

The Verdict:

Perhaps this decision came at the right time based on Johnson’s