Luck of the Irish could save Sunderland

Mick McCarthy appears the man most likely to succeed Peter Reid as Sunderland boss, while his former Republic of Ireland striker Niall Quinn prepares the “devastated” Black Cats for life under a new manager.

Another Irishman, David O’Leary, was an early favourite with the bookies to take the Stadium of Light job, but press reports in the north-east last night suggest he will not be considered.

And George Graham has been ruled out of the job, with his agent Steve Kutner saying: “This is not the right opportunity for George at the moment,” while West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace is “completely confident” his club can hang on to their highly-rated manager Gary Megson.

Conversely, Republic of Ireland boss McCarthy’s odds were slashed from 16-1 to 3-1 last night and while he publicly declared his intention to lead the Irish to Euro 2004 qualification, the ghost-writer of his autobiography Cathal Dervan wrote an article in the London Evening Standard indicating McCarthy would be very interested in the Sunderland job if it was offered to him.

McCarthy, at a press conference to announce the Ireland squad to face Switzerland in a Euro 2004 qualifier a week on Wednesday, said: “I’m flattered that my name has been mentioned as one of those who might take over at the Stadium of Light.

“Maybe that’s the price of success, being linked with a country that has moved from 54th to 13th in the FIFA world rankings and then a good World Cup last summer.”