Hi everyone,

Congrats on promotion. I am a Sunderland fan (maybe we will join you, but probably not!) but I host a podcast and my latest guest was your very own director of football development, Paul Jenkins.

Figured it may be interesting for some people here to watch.

You can find it here: https://youtu.be/SAFP2xdJldY

We talk recruitment, a little on the ownership, Pauls background and his roles and responsibilities etc.

All the best in the Prem!

Good listen. Great insights, thanks for sharing.

Brilliant interview, highly recommend a listen.

Paul comes across really well. Won’t spoil it for others, but interesting what he said about how he first got involved in the Academy, then part of the team replacing Dyche, the Moyes watching Esteve bit, trip to check in on Zeki & meeting Sporting at the same time and how he’s now learning French - maybe an indicator of where we’re looking to shop this summer.

Thanks for posting.

Really good watch that, nice one Chris

Interesting stuff, Paul comes across really well, clearly switched on (appreciated his bit on continuous Head Coach scouting) and left me feeling quite assured we’ve got some good footballing men at the club.

I've just watched this interview and came on to post a link then saw this thread was already up. Well done on a really insightful interview, highly recommended viewing

Really great video, fascinating insight into behind the scenes of the club

RVclaret wrote: ↑

Wed May 07, 2025 2:09 pm

Interesting stuff, Paul comes across really well, clearly switched on (appreciated his bit on continuous Head Coach scouting) and left me feeling quite assured we’ve got some good footballing men at the club.

That was my main takeaway: we’re in safe hands with some very good people. Williams, Jenkins, Parker, this new chap from Man United - hopefully ALK are starting to get a really top class leadership in place for the club after a few appointments that didn’t work out (I don’t blame them for this - anyone who has ever done any recruitment knows they won’t get every appointment right and it often needs a few cycles to optimise).

To note: the club productions like Keeping the Faith should focus in on these guys a lot more. What does the transfer window look like for Williams day-to-day? What’s a week in life like for Jenkins following him to his meetings, etc? What does the player care guy Jack do every day? How do the media team work?

Appreciate some of this has featured in MtB but a more in depth look would be great. This podcast filled an hour and it whistled by.

It’s clear we have some exceptional people at the club who should be showcased to the fans more. It really helps build a deeper understanding and bring the fans/club closer together.

Thanks for the comments everyone, glad it seems to have been an interesting watch for some