O’Leary and Graham in the frame after Reid’s departure

SUNDERLAND chairman Bob Murray wants to move quickly to replace Peter Reid after his departure from the club last night — and George Graham and David O’Leary are in the frame to step in at the Stadium of Light.

Reid parted company as manager of the club along with coaches Bobby Saxton, Adrian Heath, Tony Book and Mike Walsh as Murray tries to address the slide of the last two years.

The club finished seventh in the Premiership for two years running but slipped to 17th last term, narrowly avoiding relegation, and occupy the same position again after nine games of the current campaign, having won just two.

Murray told the club’s official website www.safc.com: ‘‘We will be appointing a successor as quickly as possible and hope to have someone in place before our next league game.

‘‘Most importantly we are looking for someone we believe can improve our league position in the short term and secure our Premier League status.

‘‘The international break should hopefully mean that there will be as little disruption to the players as possible. Until a successor is appointed the remaining coaching staff will take training sessions for those players not on international duty.’’

Graham and O’Leary have emerged as early favourites to take on the job at the Stadium of Light, and both kept themselves in the frame for the job by making it clear they were free to talk to whoever they liked.

O’Leary told BBC Sport Online: ‘‘I’m gutted for Peter, but I’m an out-of-work manager and I’m happy to talk to anyone.’’

Graham added: ‘‘I’m keen to speak to any club whose ambition matches my own.’’

Murray admitted it had been a ‘‘difficult decision’’ to part company with Reid and believes he will quickly return to management. Murray told the club’s official website www.safc.com: ‘‘Sunderland is totally unrecognisable now to when Peter Reid walked through the door at Roker Park in 1995. In taking this difficult decision it’s hard to realise that it has had to come to this, but the club must always come first. Nearly a quarter of the season has gone and we are at the wrong end of the table and can’t wait any longer for performances to improve.

‘‘We’ve invested more than £22million in the playing side in the last nine months but unfortunately results have not changed for the better since last season.

‘‘I stand by my decision not to change manager during last season as I am convinced that we would have gone down if we had. Whilst I know that recent months have been difficult and disappointing that should not cloud people’s judgment to the many positive things Peter has achieved for this club over many years.