Sbragia may have to choose

RICKY SBRAGIA will be offered the chance to succeed Roy Keane as Sunderland's manager if the team, under his caretaker charge, impress during their Premier League games at home to Blackburn Rovers and away at Everton.

With Sbragia harbouring mixed feelings about entering full-time management it is not certain he would accept such an invitation. "The ball is in Ricky's court," said a source.

While Niall Quinn, Sunderland's chairman, awaits Sbragia's "auditions", he is involved in major changes behind the scenes at the club where Ellis Short, the majority shareholder, is understood to be in the process of increasing his stake of just under 30 per cent and assuming full, if hands-off, control. Although Quinn's day-to-day authority is believed to be undiminished, members of the Drumaville group which bought Sunderland in 2006 are scaling down their financial involvement.

Short is happy to largely leave the choice of Keane's successor to Quinn, but the former Sunderland centre forward may need to twist Sbragia's arm.

"If I was offered the job I'd probably take a couple of days to think about it, I wouldn't say 'yes' immediately," said Sbragia last week.

The 52-year-old Scot is not playing hard to get but reflecting the inner turmoil of a man who knows the job would make him financially secure but who has misgivings about how it may affect his quality of life.

Sbragia will sit down with Quinn to discuss future possibilities this week but, should things go well against Blackburn and Everton, it is thought he will be offered a long-term contract rather than an interim arrangement until the end of the season.

It would be fair to say Sbragia may view management as akin to wearing golden handcuffs, a sort of Faustian pact which would offer him hitherto undreamt-of financial security and status in exchange for sacrificing a pleasurable, largely stress-free lifestyle.

His deepest fear may be that bowing to management's seven-day-week demands might leave him pining for his old life as a first-team coach.

"I'm enjoying it and not enjoying it," he admitted last week. "I enjoy my privacy, I like going shopping on days off without being pestered. I'm 52 and have to ask, do I really want this at my time in life?"

Torn between two potential paths, the Scot - who must also wonder if he would always regret saying no - is "keeping churning" things over in his mind. This, after all, is a man previously on record as saying: "I don't think I've got it in me to be a manager."

Unlike many football bosses, Sbragia has a hinterland. He relishes days out with his wife, loves travelling and is devoted to his two grown daughters, one of whom lives in Australia.

Keane had little time for shopping, but Sbragia enjoys a stroll along his local high street. And whereas Keane lives behind security gates, Sbragia has never felt the need to protect himself from prying eyes or camera lens.

Unlike Keane, the articulate and open character affectionately called "The Wig" - a reference to his hairstyle - believes in constantly talking to players and allowing them a voice.

So far it is working a treat, but managers - unlike coaches, or caretakers - can never be universally popular.