Phillips: I said yes then no to Cats return

KEVIN Phillips has revealed he told Niall Quinn to re-sign him for Sunderland – only to change his mind half an hour later.

The pair formed a devastating partnership up front, with Phillips winning the European Golden Shoe in 2000, crowning him the top scorer in the continent that season.

The former England striker left the club after relegation in 2003, joining his boyhood club Southampton and then moving to Aston Villa two years later.

But after falling out of favour under Martin O’Neill, Phillips was approached by his old strike partner Quinn, then chairman of Sunderland, about a move back to Wearside.

While there was much speculation about a possible deal at the time, Phillips has now revealed that it was a very realistic option until he decided to pull the plug on talks.

“I think it was common knowledge I was very close to coming back to Sunderland,” he said. “If I really wanted to I could have.

“When I was playing for Villa under Martin O’Neill and he made it clear I wasn’t his type of player.

“I still had a year left at Villa and I remember sitting in the car park at the training ground and Quinny rang me and asked me how I would feel about coming back to the club.

“The natural reaction without even thinking about it was to say yes straight away so he said he would put the wheels in motion.

“By the time I drove from the training ground back to my home, which was about 20-25 minutes, I actually started thinking about the effects of whether it would work or whether it would not.

“By the time I got home I made the decision that it wasn’t the right thing to come back and to leave it as it was.

“Of course it didn’t end great but the five years I had there was incredible and I don’t think I would have been able to have created what I had done in the time I was there.

“I wouldn’t want to be remembered for being a failure going back so I had the task of ringing Quinny to tell him I wouldn’t be coming and it didn’t go down well with the big man but in hindsight it was the best decision because I would rather the fans remember me for what I did.”

■■ Phillips was speaking at a fundraising event for Sunderland AFC’s charitable arm the Foundation of Light. If you would like to donate to the charity, you can do so online.