Former Sunderland striker and chairman Niall Quinn revealed that he attempted to appoint Arsenal assistant manager Steve Bould as Black Cats boss. Quinn headed a consortium which bought Sunderland in 2006 and became the club’s chairman and managed the Black Cats at the start of the 2006/07 season.
Former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane was eventually appointed manager and famously pulled the club up from the bottom of the league to winning the Championship, ensuring promotion back to the Premier League.
However, whilst on Sky Sports programme Fantasy Football Club, Quinn revealed that he attempted to appoint now assistant manager to Arsene Wenger at Arsenal, Steve Bould, as the club’s manager. Quinn said: “What a lot of people to know is that we first approached Steve Bould. “We felt that his defensive approach would have been what we required, but he turned us down and became and number two and he’s stuck with it. ”Bould spent the latter part of his career at Sunderland in the 1999/2000 season, making 21 appearances – bringing his overall total to exactly 500 league appearances.
