Sbragia struck by caretaker curse

THE curse of the caretaker strikes again.

Ricky Sbragia became the latest footballing janitor to learn the hard way that promotion is not necessarily a pleasure as his supposedly rejuvenated Sunderland slid to the meekest of defeats in his first game as a fully fledged manager.

Spragia was handed the job on a permanent basis on Saturday after Roy Keane’s resignation at the start of the month but, after three games unbeaten as a caretaker, Sunderland could not end the year on a high as two Mikel Arteta goals and a late Dan Gosling strike handed the home side three routine points.