Alex Neil: Sunderland appoint ex-Norwich and Preston boss as new head coach
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Alex Neil won 72 of his 191 games in charge of Preston North End in all competitions - a win rate of 37.7%
Sunderland have appointed former Norwich City and Preston North End boss Alex Neil as their new head coach on a 12-month rolling deal.
The 40-year-old joins after the League One Black Cats parted company with Lee Johnson following their 6-0 thrashing by Bolton Wanderers on 29 January.
Neil's arrival comes after negotiations ended with former boss Roy Keane.
The Scot will take charge of Saturday's game at AFC Wimbledon with his new side fourth in the table.
"It is a privilege to be head coach of Sunderland AFC," Neil said.
"Everything that I saw from the players this morning made me really confident and gave me belief, so what we now need to do is replicate that on a matchday - when it matters - under scrutiny and under pressure.
"Our task is to try to win as many games as we possibly can and at this moment in time we are focused on this season and this season alone."
Former Hamilton Academical manager Martin Canning will be Neil's assistant at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland had been second in League One after their win against Portsmouth on 22 January, but since Johnson's sacking, they subsequently lost against Doncaster and Cheltenham to drop to fourth.
Neil's managerial career has seen promotions with both Hamilton and Norwich to the Scottish and English top flights.
He won promotion with the Canaries to the Premier League after they beat Middlesbrough in the 2015 Championship play-off final - a win which came just five months after he took charge at Carrow Road.
Having taken over at Deepdale in 2017 from Simon Grayson - who left to join Sunderland at the time - Neil oversaw mid-table stability for Preston in the Championship.
He was sacked last season, however, after just one win in nine Championship matches with the club 16th and nine points off the relegation places.
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