‘Bain told me we needed to make cuts – that wasn’t an issue’

Simon Grayson has revealed what Martin Bain told him upon his arrival at Sunderland.

Grayson was appointed to the Stadium of Light hot seat in the summer of 2017 as the Black Cats targeted an instant return to the Premier League.

But things didn’t go to plan for the former Leeds

United and Blackpool boss, who was sacked that October with Sunderland languishing at the wrong end of the Championship.

His successor, Chris Coleman, was also unable to stave off the threat of relegation, with the Wearsiders ultimately suffering a second successive demotion.

Grayson – recently linked with a job overseas – took over Sunderland at a time when then-chairman Ellis Short’s interest was waning, after the American tycoon’s huge investment into the club reaped little reward.

Bain was appointed as chief operating officer in 2016, with Short instructing the former Rangers man to cut costs at the Stadium of

Light.

And Grayson explained to the ‘Sacked In The Morning’ podcast: “I remember going into Sunderland.

"Once I got there, Martin Bain, the CEO, said ‘look we need to make some cuts to the staff behind the scenes’.

"That wasn’t an issue for me because coming from Preston (North End), I had a couple of physios and all of a sudden Sunderland had four in each department, so it wasn’t something I was too bothered about, losing a couple of members and the costcutting exercise.

"It was something that didn’t really get discussed at the time but it didn’t affect me when I got offered the job in the first place.”