Quinny wants the job

Stories emerging from Ireland suggest that Niall Quinn is currently the favourite to take over at Sunderland for good reason.

Fans favourite and former striker Niall Quinn this week fell from 50/1 to 4/1 favourite at the bookies, to much the surprise of Sunderland fans all over.

For months now we've heard rumours of an Irish consortium involving McManus, Magnier and Quinn being interested in our beloved club, but in all honesty we've known it to be simply the stuff of fantasy and fallacy.

However it is now emerging that, while the rich benefactors may not be following him, Niall Quinn is infact very keen to take the helm at Sunderland, the club he holds dearest to his heart after 6 fantastic years on Wearside.

It was widely believed that Quinny had no interest in pursuing a managerial career and instead would happily concentrated on media work and his horses. However, as reported today, he does infact intend to return to football with coaching in mind, and has attained his UEFA B qualification and has enrolled to begin his UEFA A course.

While many reports from Ireland suggested that him being installed as manager would only depend on chairman Bob Murray leaving, The Guardian (who Quinny, significantly, writes a weekly article for), today insisted the reports of his relationship with Murray being frosty are far from the mark.

The same paper stated that while Quinn would be prepared to work under Murray, he would insist on suitable transfer funds in order to propell Sunderland back into the Premiership. The Guardian article seemed very sure and fact-based, and one must assume Quinn had some input into it's publication.

The comparison made with Keegan's effect on Newcastle is a fair one, Keegan also had no managerial experience prior to his appointment on Tyneside, yet the euphoria generated by his arrival because of his playing days at Newcastle almost single handedly propelled them into the Premiership.

What we Sunderland fans would give for a bit of that.

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