Murray makes 'difficult' decision over Reid

Sunderland chairman Bob Murray admitted it had been a “difficult decision” to part company with manager Peter Reid.

Reid’s departure was confirmed tonight after a poor start to the season which has seen them win just two out of nine Premiership games so far and occupy 17th place in the league.

Members of his coaching staff – Adrian Heath, Bobby Saxton, Tony Book and Mike Walsh – have also left the club as Murray tries to address the club’s slide over the last two years.

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 £22m in the playing side in the last nine months but unfortunately results have not changed for the better since last season.

“I have enjoyed a close professional relationship with Peter and the Board and I would like to thank him for his significant contribution and efforts for the club in the last seven years.

“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 judgement to the many positive things Peter has achieved for this club over many years.

“I’m sure his services will be snapped up quickly by another club and he’ll be successful again. I have no hesitation in giving Peter a glowing reference, as he’s been a great and committed manager to work with.

“As far as Peter’s contract is concerned an automatic financial settlement was included from the outset, which could have been triggered by both parties. This means that there will be no need for negotiations to reach a financial settlement. Peter’s shares in Sunderland are a personal investment and remain his own to do as he wishes.

“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.

“Overall the fans have been incredibly tolerant and supportive in the last few months and I would also like to thank them for that. Now we need to stick together more than ever to give a new manager and the team support to get back to winning ways. We all want what is best for the club.”

Sunderland were the lowest scorers in the Premiership last season with just 29 goals, and the problem has persisted into the current campaign.

They have failed to score in five of their nine league games thus far, though they did manage to fire seven past Cambridge in the Worthington Cup.

Reid’s last game in charge of the club was the 3-1 defeat at Arsenal on Sunday.

The lacklustre form had led to calls for his head from sections of the Sunderland crowd, but it appeared chairman Bob Murray would stick with him.

The pressure was already on and was made worse when he was pelted with beer by an angry fan on the pre-season tour of Belgium.

Reid was criticised for not opening the cheque book last season but spent big before the transfer window closed to sign Tore Andre Flo, Marcus Stewart and Matt Piper.