Quinn starts search for Sunderland boss

Niall Quinn yesterday set out on a quest to recruit a top-class manager to drag Sunderland back into the English Premiership.

The former Republic of Ireland and Sunderland striker was in bullish mood as he and his consortium finally tabled their formal offer to take over the club.

Quinn will not officially become chairman at the Stadium of Light until the club's remaining shareholders - his consortium has already received undertakings to acquire a 72.59 per cent stake - have decided on their offer. He has, however, been given permission by outgoing chairman Bob Murray to start the recruitment process.

Quinn declined to comment on speculation that Martin O'Neill is his number-one target, with Roy Keane and Alex McLeish also reported to be on his shortlist, but promised he was looking for a special kind of man.

"I'll tell you what I'm looking at - and it's my call - I've got to get somebody here who really does stick his chest out and is passionate about driving this club back to where it was, and the fans can connect with it and we can all do it together," he said.

"What I can't have is somebody who sees it as a stop-off point before another job. It was futile even trying to think about that until we had control, but it starts today, and the beauty of today is that I can make phone calls. I have ideas in my mind, but availability then comes into it.

"I don't want to build the fans' hopes up too much, but I'll certainly be looking for somebody they will be proud of. There's been lots of speculation and really what I've spent the last couple of weeks doing is building a profile of the type of manager I think this football club needs to go forward.

"The key word to it all, in my opinion, is passion, and somebody who will re-ignite the fans' beliefs again and the zest that was in this club seven or eight years ago, that it can happen again. Giving somebody a free hand to turn this would-be monster club great again, that's a challenge that the type of man I want will take."

Quinn's consortium - the other seven are Patrick Beirne, Patsy Byrne, Charlie Chawke, Louis Fitzgerald, John Hayes, Paddy Kelly and Jack Tierney - will have offered 117p for each share, a price that will net Murray £5.7 million and values the club at around £10 million.

Blackburn have signed striker Jason Roberts from Wigan on a four-year deal, while Francis Jeffers has joined the club on a free transfer from Charlton.

Manchester United will mark the completion of an 8,000-seat extension at Old Trafford, taking the capacity to 76,000, with a friendly against Uefa Cup holders Seville on Saturday, August 12th.