A 3-4-3 coach "would love to be Sunderland manager", having admitted that he has previously spoken to Tony Mowbray about the current situation at the Stadium of Light.
Sunderland manager latest
The Black Cats have had Mike Dodds in as caretaker manager since the dismissal of Michael Beale earlier in the year, with their season petering out disappointingly. Having looked like genuine Championship playoff contenders at one point, Sunderland have slipped to 13th place in the table, with Dodds averaging just 0.82 points per game in his 11 matches in charge since coming in, winning only twice in that time.
The hunt is now on to find a proper successor to Beale, however, and plenty of names have been thrown into the mix in recent months, as the club look to nail a hugely important decision.
Reims manager Will Still has been linked with the Sunderland job numerous times, with the 31-year-old an exciting young boss who has shone in France, but it remains to be seen if he will be the man who comes in. Former Nottingham Forest boss Steve Cooper has also emerged as an option for the Black Cats, in what would represent an audacious appointment, considering he has only recently been managing in the Premier League.
Now, it appears as though another individual has thrown his name into the hat to take over from Dodds.
3-4-3 manager keen on Sunderland job
Speaking on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast [via The Sunderland Echo], John O'Shea admitted that he is keen on being Sunderland's next manager at some point, having enjoyed a lengthy stint at the Stadium of Light as a player:
"When you think I was there for six, seven years. I had an amazing time there and it's an amazing club, it really is. We had an amazing time there and yeah, ultimately I would love to be Sunderland manager. It's a tricky one, I spoke to Tony Mowbray when he came into Birmingham about the model they have there with young players."
In truth, O'Shea remains a very inexperienced figure in management, even though he is the Republic of Ireland's current caretaker boss. For that reason, Sunderland hiring him this summer could be a risk, at a time when they need to hire more of a surefire bet.
The Irishman prefers a 3-4-3 formation, suggesting he has a modern way of thinking, in terms of utilising the wing-backs effectively, but his only two games in his current role saw a 1-0 loss to Switzerland and 0-0 draw against Belgium come his way. Neither are particularly bad results, in fairness, but there simply isn't enough evidence to suggest that Sunderland should take a punt on him.
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O'Shea has enjoyed plenty of assistant manager roles, including at Birmingham City and Stoke City, but until he is a manager for a sustained period of time, the Black Cats shouldn't consider him a front-runner to come in.