Cook calls for Reid to make Cats job return

WIGAN boss Paul Cook has ruled himself out of the running for the vacant Sunderland manager’s job, but he has urged the club to re-appoint former manager Peter Reid.

Reid has been linked with a return to the Stadium of Light, despite being out of management since 2014, and it would be an appointment that would be welcomed by Black Cats supporters.

Both Cook and Reid have been linked with the role, but Cook ruled himself out of the running yesterday, re-affirming his commitment to the Latics.

He told Wigan Today: “This is football. As a manager, if you’re doing well, then there will be speculation. All the speculation is good, but I’m very happy to be here.

“This club is a very happy place to be at the moment, and long may that continue. It’s great when you get plaudits, and people are speaking about you well.

“But I’d rather be concentrating on my job here, and working hard to get better.

“The problem with football these days, is we’re all clamouring for something – and we can clamour for it too quick.”

Reid has been part of Cook’s coaching staff at Wigan on a voluntary basis this season.

And he believes Reid would be a fantastic appointment for the Black Cats, should he return to the club he left in 2002.

He added: “For Peter, it’s fantastic. I’ve said before I think it’s an absolute crime someone like Peter wasn’t involved in and around a football club.

“The experience, the enthusiasm, the knowledge... he was first in this morning, watching videos on Crawley.

“If someone like Sunderland did look to go down that road, I’d be very much for it. And I think he’d be fantastic for Sunderland.”

Reid guided Sunderland to promotion from Division One in 1999, before helping the Black Cats to two consecutive seventhplaced finishes in the Premier League.

It is a feat that has only been repeated once since his departure, while Reid has gone on to manage Leeds, Coventry, Thailand, Plymouth and Mumbai City.