Since the arrival of Florent Ghisolfi as director of football in the summer of 2025 the departure of Kristjaan Speakman, effectively doubling up as sporting director, is arguably not a great surprise.
He leaves a fabulous legacy though.
When he arrived in December 2020 the club were languishing in League One for a third consecutive season amidst all the problems associated with covid. Speakman oversaw the appointments of Alex Neil and Regis le Bris to engineer Sunderland's return to the Championship and then to top-flight football where most would agree Sunderland deserve to be.
The journey, he would be the first to admit, has at times been very difficult. The catastrophic appointment of Michael Beale following the sacking of the popular Tony Mowbray was one of those difficult times, but overall the recruitment and the rebuilding of the team and the club's leadership structure has been outstanding.
Speakman speaks proudly and rightly of his achievements at the club.
As he says, he has re-established "a team built on the region's identity, creating a deep connection with its people".
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