By Paddy Kenny

26th May, 2021 | 4:00pm

Paddy Kenny: This is why I can't stand Sunderland manager Johnson

Sunderland manager Lee Johnson is “arrogant” and has “little man syndrome.”

That is according to Paddy Kenny, who briefly played under Johnson at Oldham, speaking exclusively to Football Insider after Sunderland failed in the League One play-off semi-finals last Saturday.

Johnson’s side lost 3-2 on aggregate to Lincoln City, consigning the Black Cats to a third successive season in League One.

Football Insider understands that result leaves Johnson’s job in peril and that Sunderland have already held talks over finding a replacement. 

After the defeat, Kenny made his thoughts on Johnson clear via Twitter, labelling the 39-year-old a “weapon.”

Addressing his controversial post, he told Football Insider correspondent Adam Williams: “Why don’t I like him? We could be here all day. 

“I took an instant dislike to him from day one because my agent didn’t want me to go [to Oldham], and neither did Neil Lennon because I was at Bolton at the time.

“Lennon wanted me to stay and fight Andy Lonergan for the number one spot and we were doing quite well actually.

“But I wanted to play. I was used to playing and I hadn’t played for six or seven months, so I decided to go.

“My agent said: ‘Don’t go. You won’t like him [Johnson]. He’s arrogant, he’s this, he’s that. I give you a week before he tells you he was on £10,000-a-week at Bristol.

“Within an hour of meeting him, he told me. And I said: ‘Yeah, but weren’t your dad the manager?’

“There were a few other things that annoyed me. I was only there a few weeks but he swore at me just before half-time at Milton Keynes.

“A few other ex-pros have told me they think he’s arrogant. Little man syndrome, I say.”

In other news, Sunderland star performer wanted by quartet of Championship clubs.