ANDY REID INTERVIEW: MICHAEL WALKERmeets a player as different off the pitch as he is on it. From his much remarked on physique to his penchant for natural history and theatre, the 25-year old Dubliner who has lit up the Stadium of Light is just . . . different

AS DIFFERENT off the pitch as he is on it; even after half an hour in his company it becomes clear Andy Reid is simply different. This is a reference not solely to Reid's much remarked upon physique, but to his attitude, his approach, his view of who he is and what he is. Not often in the course of standard-fare questioning do footballers casually mention the Royal Observatory at Greenwich or the fact that at 25, they have a nine-year old daughter, but Andy Reid has a personality that sticks with you. On introduction, he makes an impact.

Ask Sunderland fans: it is 10 weeks since Reid walked into the Stadium of Light, 10 weeks that have transformed the club's Premier League hopes, 10 weeks that could shape its long-term future for the better. Assured, Reid knows he has played a part in that change, but he is also polite, self-deprecating.

"I'd be careful how you'd go about that," he said when January's transfer window was described as a turning point in the season. Reid, Jonny Evans and Phil Bardsley arrived then. "The players did really well in the first half of the season.

"Since I've been here, Nyron Nosworthy has been phenomenal. I can't speak highly enough of him. If I was going into battle, if there's anyone I'd want with me, it'd be him. Him and Paddy McCarthy down at Charlton, those are two people I'd want on my side. As well as that, Dean Whitehead has been fantastic, Kenwyne Jones too."

Reid is prepared to add: "I feel I've brought something to the team since I've come," and even if it were only two particular touches, Sunderland supporters would still consider Reid €5 million spent well.

The first was around five seconds after he appeared as a substitute against Wigan on February 9th. Reid took the ball in tight space on the touchline, rode a challenge and then squared a precise pass to Daryl Murphy. Murphy belted the ball in from 30 yards. Reid had his first assist and Sunderland were 14th in the table.

Six games later, Sunderland had slipped again. Only one of the five intervening games had been won and West Ham needed to be beaten at the Stadium of Light. Into the sixth minute of injury-time, the score was 1-1, then a flighted cross and at the far post a nerveless volley from Reid. His first Sunderland goal, an unforgettable winner.

"It's nice," Reid said of Wearside's reaction, "but it doesn't make a difference as such, because that's what I expect myself to do. I understand others seeing it and it's nice to make an impression, but it didn't surprise me that I made an impression - I don't mean that in a big-head way. That's my job, to create goals and keep the ball moving. That's what I do."

A footballer declaring that football is what he does should not be striking, but somehow from Reid it was. There was no drama in his tone, perhaps a reflection of his ease at Sunderland as well as his natural demeanour. Because Reid has "settled well" and likes the ambition he sees around him.

"I think a club of this size has to be pushing for Europe, that's one of the reasons why I came. I didn't come to play in a relegation battle. I was under no illusions when I came that it was going to be a relegation battle but the manager is obviously ambitious, the club has good backing behind it, it's a well-run club. Look at the stadium, the training facilities. There are clubs who aren't as big as Sunderland who are pushing for Europe - and while I understand size means nothing - there is a base here. The capability is here."

These are confident words. Reid clearly feels at one with Sunderland already, which is not a development he took for granted given his Tottenham experience. Reid recalled that when he left Nottingham Forest for Spurs and the bright lights of the Premiership three Januarys ago, it was not so smooth.

At White Hart Lane, he said: "I felt I was doing okay but then I did my medial ligament and then I did it again. I never felt particularly comfortable, that I belonged there. I'm not blaming anybody, it's me as much as anybody. I never felt really settled there. In some ways when I look back I forget I played for Tottenham. Yet I'm proud to have played for them, they play football the right way. But the memories aren't there and it sometimes feels as if I was never really there."

There was no fall-out with Martin Jol, Reid said, and there was no difficulty adjusting to the division either. There was also no problem in London. Some things just don't fit and Reid was "happy" when Charlton came calling in the summer of 2006.

"I sat in the office with Iain Dowie and I think the main reason I didn't go to other clubs was him. I was really impressed with what he had to say. I was really disappointed when he was sacked and I was upset that it came out that the players were unhappy under him. I said that to the chairman; because it wasn't true."

Talking to chairmen is not a hurdle for the Dubliner. At Forest, the club Reid joined from Cherry Orchard despite interest from Manchester United and Arsenal, he became a talismanic figure. In contrast to Spurs, Reid felt at home in Nottingham.

There was teenage angst due to the arrival of his daughter, Saoirse, who stayed in Ireland and who caused many bouts of homesickness - "It was really hard being so far away from her. Looking back, now she's nine, I think she's starting to understand a little bit. She's still in Ireland."

But once he got in the Forest first team at 18, Reid established himself and Forest were on the up. Then they lost in the 2003 play-offs to Sheffield United.

"The reason we got into the play-offs was we'd a good squad, a good manager and the club was in a good a position. We narrowly missed out in the semi-final. What we needed then was an injection, two or three players, and I think we'd have won the league the next season. It didn't happen, actually we let a good few go. Paul Hart was left pulling his hair out and when things started to go wrong the first person sacked is Paul Hart.

"Joe Kinnear came in and we managed to stay up but I still felt we weren't good enough. I said that to Joe Kinnear and to the chairman. I was 21, 22. It wasn't a bold thing to say, it was the truth. We did get relegated, I could see it a mile off.

"The chairman wasn't too keen to put more money into it and then Joe Kinnear lost his job. The team wasn't good enough. I ended up leaving in the January. Gary Megson came in."

There is, nonetheless, affection for Forest, and Charlton. Reid was made captain by Alan Pardew this season and as he sat in Sunderland's training ground on January's deadline day, the thought was still in his mind that in May Sunderland could go down and Charlton up. Then there was the geography. Reid did not call these "doubts", rather "things you have to think about".

"I'm not married but you do have to consider these things. Geographically, moving from one end of the country to the other is a big move. Straight away, nothing to do with the football, it's a big move. It's a change of life, and the thing is you're moving from London. Anyone who's lived in London will know what London's like and you're moving up to the North-east, it's a bit chalk and cheese.

"I'm not saying one is any better than the other but it's different and you've got to adapt. These are things that you've got to weigh up and in a kind of funny way, you get about five minutes to do it.

"I'd thrown myself into London life but not in a way people might perceive. I didn't throw myself into China White's [ nightclub] - which is what people mean when they say 'London life' - I threw myself into its history. I love the theatre, there was always stuff on for me down there, such a cultural place. I threw myself in 100 per cent, museums, everything, I really loved it. I don't play golf.

"I lived beside the Royal Observatory at the Maritime Museum in Greenwich, so I was always there; into town, the Natural History Museum. If I had a day off the next day, I'd go to see shows, good Irish shows on there, met some really nice people, actors, stuff like that. I'd do it on my own. Footballers have a certain kind of lifestyle that they like to live; mine would be slightly different."