Odds slashed on two names in Cats’ hat

TWO Championship managers have risen in the betting to be Sunderland’s next manager.

The odds on Preston North End’s Simon Grayson and Barnsley’s Paul Heckingbottom taking the vacant Stadium of Light job have both been slashed.

The Black Cats are searching for a new manager after David Moyes resigned the day after the Premier League season ended. The Scot felt unable to work with the meagre transfer budget he was told to expect.

As they look to recover from relegation, managers with experience of second-tier football feature prominently in the odds. With debts of £110.4m, Sunderland are not able to compete for anyone more highprofile but there is much to be said for those who know the workings of the division, and who are used to working within the tight financial constraints Moyes did not feel up to.

The favourite, Aberdeen’s Derek McInnes, had a mixed spell in charge of Bristol City. Burton Albion’s Nigel Clough and Garry Monk, who left Leeds United the days after Moyes’ departure, are also prominent in the odds.

Heckingbottom was a trainee at the Stadium of Light, but never made a first-team appearance for them. He had loan spells with Hartlepool United, Darlington and Gateshead.

The bulk of the 39-year-old’s football was played with Yorkshire clubs Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday and his hometown club Barnsley, who he has managed since February 2016. Barnsley finished 14th in last season’s Championship,

“It would take something big to get me away from here,” Heckingbottom recently told The Sheffield Star when asked about his future. “A lot of it is just speculation. I’m under contract here and the only way I could go would be if someone came in and gave the money to the club, just like a player.”