Cats go in four the kill
® SUNDERLAND have compiled a four-man shortlist in their search for a boss.
Chief executive Martin Bain hopes to have the new man before Saturday’s home game against Millwall.
Barnsley boss Paul Heckingbottom and former Rangers manager Ally McCoist are among the contenders to replace Simon Grayson, who was sacked at the end of last month.
Heckingbottom’s odds have been slashed but there has been no approach for the Tykes’ boss, who was on Sunderland’s books as a player without making a first team appearance.
Target
He is understood to want the job but Bain remains open-minded and has yet to decide on his top target.
The debt-ridden Black Cats have yet to win a home game this year and their only league victory this season was in August.
Crowds have slumped to well below 20,000 despite official figures suggesting otherwise with thousands of season-ticket holders staying away.
Robbie Stockdale will take charge on Saturday again if the recruitment process is ongoing, although he is not a candidate for the job on a permanent basis. LEICESTER’S £16m misfit Ahmed Musa claims Leonid Slutsky still wants him at Hull.
Musa’s boss at CSKA Moscow tried to sign him in the summer and the Nigerian striker is tempted but dropping to the Championship “is the problem”. He said: “It is for this reason that it’s hard for me to decide.”