Kevin Ball is making his presence felt at Sunderland

Kevin Ball

Sunderland’s acting manager Kevin Ball has stated that he is not a “supply teacher” and is not to be taken for granted at the club. The Daily Star reports.

Ball has taken the reigns of the club following the departure of Paolo Di Canio- this is the second time Ball has been appointed as caretaker of the team.

Di Canio had signed 14 players in a bid to strengthen the squad during his brief reign at the club.

The move failed to make any difference as the Black Cats gained only 1 point in 5 games and currently sit at the bottom of the table as they prepared to host Liverpool.

Ball, who once served as Sunderland;s skipper, saw his second stint begin with a 2-0 victory in the Capital One Cup game against Peterborough.

Former Brighton manager Gus Poyet has emerged as the front runner for the Sunderland job.

Ball has stated that he would “like to be considered” for the permanent role as Sunderland manager but until then he wants his team to put up a fight against Liverpool.

He said: “You play for your own pride. I played under a few caretakers at Portsmouth. There was John Gregory for a while and I got on great with him. Frank Burrows changed a lot of things when he took over and Alan Ball was caretaker boss before he took over.

“Subconsciously, some?players might?think, ‘He’s?only?the caretaker’.

“But you would like to think that their pride would drive?them?to be?the?best?they can be.

“There may have been an?element?when?I?was caretaker in 2006 – when there were only ten games left and let’s face it, we were getting relegated irrespective – that the players could have thought of me as a supply teacher.

“But this time, that can’t be the case because the club might say, ‘Right,?we want you to take?over now’.?If?a player, in this short period, has acted like that, he’s not going?to?be in?the?supply teacher’s good books, is he? Respect has to be earned and I understand that.

“But I would like to think that with my history as a player and people knowing what I was like, it would be a two-way thing. I have to respect them too.”

Sunderland previously had Steve Bruce and Martin O’Neill as managers before appointing Paolo Di Canio.

Ball conceded that many may see the managerial role as a poisoned chalice. He said: “I think people would see that but that’s up to them.

“It’s like saying, ‘Has the glass of Rioja gone off?’

“Some might see it as a challenge and others might say, ‘I’m not happy with what’s gone on there, I don’t fancy it’.

“I’m not going to tell people what they should do.”

The 48-year-old is an admirer of Liverpool boss Brenden Rodgers. He said: “We did the pro-licence together and he was very receptive and got on smashing with everybody.

“I think when you see him now you see the same Brendan that I saw then. He’s really concentrated on coaching.

“He was very fortunate to work under a lot of good people at Chelsea and he would have learned a lot along the way.

“He had his own ideas about how to do things and he’s gone out and done what he’s done and finally ended up at Liverpool, which is one of the best clubs you could wish to be with, so good on him.”