Reid keen on Sunderland return

December 8, 2008

The man who managed Sunderland for seven years between 1995 and 2002 has revealed that he would be interested in a return to the Stadium of Light. Peter Reid – who is currently managing Thailand’s national team – has said that ‘everyone aspires to work in England’.

With this in mind, speculation has increased about Reid taking over the helm at Sunderland after Roy Keane’s resignation last week. Speaking specifically about the vacancy, the 52-year-old revealed that he has a clause in his Thailand contract allowing him to speak to English clubs, paving the way for a return to the Premier League for him.

Something else that may work in Reid’s favour is his relationship with Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn. The pair have known each other for a number of years and Reid admits that he gets on with Quinn ‘very well’. Whether this relationship becomes a chairman – manager one though, remains to be seen.

During his time at Sunderland, Reid secured two seventh placed finishes for the club in the Premier League and they even threatened to qualify for the Champions League after a fantastic start to the 2000/2001 season. They suffered dip in form towards the end of the campaign though and a relegation battle followed before Reid left the club in October 2002.

Since then, Reid went on the manage Leeds United and Coventry City, but neither of these spells were either long-term or successful. Managing to keep Leeds in the Premier League in 2003 was probably the highlight for him.

Now in charge of Thailand, Reid has not only thrown his name into the hat for the Sunderland job, he has also sung the praises of another candidate – Sam Allarydce. The former Newcastle man is the favourite for the job according to the football odds and this Reid believes Allardyce has ‘rightly been mentioned’.

The Thailand boss did admit that his potential return may not be welcomed by some Sunderland fans, but is adamant that if he did get the job, he would be ‘confident of success again’. A manager returning to a club doesn’t always work, but Reid believes it would do in his case.

Sunderland chairman Quinn has stated that he is in no rush to find Keane’s replacement though, so it is a case of watch this space as the Black Cats look for the man to drag them away from the relegation zone in the Premier League.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs about football betting

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