After a week or so of speculation, Kim Hellberg explained on Wednesday that he wouldn’t be the next Sunderland manager, and was announced as the new Hammarby boss on Thursday.
In the meantime, the French media went a bit overboard with Will Still, who announced he would remain as Stade de Reims manager until the end of the season at the very least.
Then came the news that Jimmy Thelin was also interviewed by Sunderland, around the same time Hellberg was giving his press conference to be presented as Hammarby manager, where he was inevitably asked about the Black Cats, relayed by Fotbollskanalen.
While he did admit he had held talks with the Championship side, it’s said he was never fully aware of his chances of getting the job.
He said: “My focus from the beginning has been to end up here (at Hammarby). There was a brief opportunity to visit that club (Sunderland) and, just like Hammarby, I needed to have some other options if “Micke” (Mikael Hjelmberg, his new club’s sports director) decided to hire another manager.”
Therefore, it appears that, despite some reports suggesting otherwise, that Hellberg was always prioritising a move to Hammarby over Sunderland.
However, now that he’s their manager, he’s almost obliged to say that, isn’t he?
