Chris Coleman has become the first casualty of a new era at Sunderland after the club were sold to an international consortium led by the chairman of non-league side Eastleigh.

Coleman had been determined to stay on and had even offered to take a pay cut to do so, despite leading the club to relegation into League One for only the second time in their history.

But the new owners want their own manager in place and do not feel the former Wales boss had done a good enough job to justify keeping him on. It is a shoddy way for the 47-year-old to depart, particularly as he appears to have been kept in the dark about the takeover.

Telegraph Sport understands that former Sunderland manager Mick McCarthy, who resigned as Ipswich Town manager last month, is one of the names under consideration to replace Coleman as Sunderland look to recover from two successive relegations while Michael Appleton, the assistant at Leicester City, is also in the frame.

The news was greeted with a mixture of emotions on Wearside, with most supporters backing Coleman, although any sadness at his departure was lifted by the announcement owner Ellis Short has finally found a buyer.