Dick Advocaat admitted he thought Sunderland would get rid of Gus Poyet sooner than they did.
Advocaat has replaced Poyet at the Stadium of Light following the Black Cats decision to sack the Uruguayan earlier this week but the Dutchman felt the move may have happened sooner.
"I expected they would do it earlier, but they didn't," he told NOS.
"They were looking for someone with experience, a guy who knows what it's about. For this short time they didn't want to take the risk to get an unexperienced coach."
Advoccat has been tasked with the unenviable job of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League come season's end.
The Wearside outfit currently sits 17th on the table, just a point above the bottom three, ahead of Saturday's trip to West Ham United.
