Young appointed Head of Performance by Sunderland

ANDREW YOUNG has started work as Sunderland’s new Head of Performance and Medicine.

The Australian has an extensive and varied CV, having worked with Fulham (2005 to 2008) and Blackburn Rovers (2012) as a fitness coach, before returning to his homeland to work with the Adelaide Crows and Australian men’s national team. Most recently he has been a fitness coach with Bangkok Glass in Thailand.

Meanwhile, Sam Ash has been appointed as the club's new Head of Football Administration and Operations, filling a role that was previously occupied by Ray Murphy before his departure last summer. He joins from the Traveopia Group, where he was Senior Operations Manager.

Speaking about the appointments, Sunderland Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman said: "We have our heads of domain all in place now, the infrastructure is all set, and what happens now is that those heads of domain such as Stuart [Harvey, Head of Recruitment] are starting to build out what they feel is the most appropriate, fit-for-purpose structure.

"We are also building our own system in terms of data and tracking and monitoring so that we have something that is high quality for the club."

The main concern for the club at the moment is looking for a new Head Coach, however. Mike Dodds, who joined as Head of Individual Player Development last September after 12 years with Birmingham City, has taken interim charge following the sacking of Lee Johnson on Sunday.

He is being assisted by Under-23s assistant Michael Proctor, with support from first-team coach Phil Jevons and goalkeeping coach David Preece.

• Head of Recruitment - Stuart Harvey
• Head of Academy - Lewis Dickman
• Head of Data and Analysis - James Young
• Head of Medical and Performance - Andrew Young
• Head of Football Administration and Operations - Sam Ash

All report into Sporting Director Kristjaan Speakman.