Sunderland Football Club

• Nickname:Black Cats
• Founded:1879
• Manager:Paolo Di Canio

• Ground:Stadium of light
• Capacity:48353

Quinn offers Sbragia backing

20 Feb 2009 - 15:02:09

Click To Enlarge

Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn has dismissed suggestions that manager Ricky Sbragia is all but certain to be replaced at the end of the season.

Sbragia was handed the top job at the Stadium of Light following the departure of Roy Keane in early December and has helped the Black Cats move seven points clear of the drop zone.

Despite that fact, rumours continue to do the rounds about Sbragia being shown the door next summer.

Quinn told the Sunderland Echo: "If we had only wanted him to see us through to the summer then we would have only given him a six-month contract.

"The fact is that we gave him an 18-month contract because we thought that was a reasonable amount of time for him and for us.

"But the flexibility we have means it's something we can revisit in the summer when we know where the club is and where it is heading.

"We didn't want to hand out a three-year contract and be faced with that whole thing about big pay-offs, like so many clubs have faced in recent years, if it didn't work out.

"We wanted to find a middle road and this seemed to be the right route to go down. Ricky understood the situation and was happy with it."