Former Sunderland and Manchester United stalwart declares interest in head coach role but explains recruitment concern

Former Sunderland and Manchester United defender John O’Shea says he would ‘love’ to manage the club, but admits he has reservations over the club’s recruitment strategy.

O’Shea is currently interim Republic of Ireland boss, and could yet take charge of their international fixtures in June as the search for Stephen Kenny’s permanent successor continues. O’Shea has made clear his management ambitions since leaving his role as coach at Birmingham City shortly after the arrival of Tony Mowbray.

O’Shea appeared on the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast with Sam Allardyce, and was asked if he would be interested in the vacancy on Wearside. The 42-year-old made clear that he would be, but says he feels the club need more experience in the squad if they are to compete for promotion in future seasons.

O’Shea said: "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.

"The thing for me is it's a great idea on paper,” he added.

“But you look at Bayer Leverkusen, the first thing Xabi Alonso said was that he needed some experience - and he went and got Granit Xhaka. It's almost his first thought, he needs that central, general - take control of things for me. You need a mix, having young players in the team and assets to sell on is brilliant, but the cutthroat nature of winning promotion and then staying in the Premier League... you need a blend."

O’Shea is not expected to land the Ireland job permanently but says he would be interested in taking on the role as the search continues.

“I was in Dublin yesterday and spoke to some of the press and there’s no update,” he said.

“Hopefully it gets sorted quickly because there’s a bit of a knock-on effect in terms of we’re planning for two games. Lee Carsley was high on their list but he’s obviously happy at England U21s and doing what he’s doing there . We’ll see what happens, of course [I’d do it permanently]. I took the two games and to manage your country is an amazing honour. I’ve been involved with Ireland for 30-odd years, so let’s wait and see.”