Gus Poyet wants the Sunderland job

Gus Poyet has stated that he wants to take charge of Sunderland

Ex-Brighton boss Gus Poyet has confessed that he wants to take up the job as Sunderland manager left vacant by the recently departed Paolo Di Canio. Sky Sports reports.

The 45-year-old has a very good chance of getting the job after former Chelsea manager Robert Di Matteo did not fancy taking charge at the Stadium of Light.

Poyet was quoted as saying by the Daily Mirror: “My opportunity to manage Sunderland is there. I’m waiting. Nervously.

“Since the start of the season, I’ve dedicated myself to watching the games of teams that might call me if things weren’t going too well.”

A number of managers are rumored to be in the running for the Black Cats job some of which are ex-Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren, former Stoke City manager Tony Pulis, and Championship managers such as former Manchester United player Paul Ince, Sean Dyche and Gianfranco Zola.

The Black Cats caretaker, Kevin Ball, has stated that he is already gone about the job of managing the club and made it clear that he won’t be taking it lightly with a game against Liverpool looming over the weekend.

“I like them to work extremely hard. I’m one of these sort of people who would say, ‘Listen, there is a time and a place to have a joke and a laugh. but there’s also a time to be serious,’” he said

“If it’s their time and they want to have a bit of a laugh, I’ll let them do it.

“If it’s my time and they want to have a bit of a laugh and it’s right, I’ll do it.

“But if I felt it was a time to work hard then I would say the same again. I would expect them to be just like that.

“The way I like to do things will stay the same. It is important you get a two way conversation with the team and the players – ultimately, when they cross the white line they have to be buying into what we want.

“I’m possibly only here until Sunday. I will pick what I think is the right team to play the game. But what I’ll also do is speak to all the players and I’ll explain why.

“Ultimately, some will be, ‘OK, no problem!’, and others might be quite upset.

“We had one player who was upset he wasn’t playing against Peterborough – because he wants to play. It made me feel good because it means I have players that are hungry to play football.

“I explained why [he wasn't playing] to him, and he was happy with that.”