Sunderland are close to confirming the appointment of Martin O'Neill after he arrived at the club's training ground on Saturday morning.
Black Cats set to confirm Bruce's successor
Sunderland are close to confirming the appointment of Martin O'Neill after he arrived at the club's training ground on Saturday morning.
The two parties opened negotiations on Thursday evening in the wake of Steve Bruce's departure from the Stadium of Light 24 hours earlier, and continued with a second round of talks on Friday.
Sunderland chairman Ellis Short's mission to recruit O'Neill has now entered a third day, but it appears the deal is close to being finalised.
O'Neill is currently on Wearside visiting Sunderland's Academy of Light training headquarters with former chairman Niall Quinn and an announcement is expected later on Saturday.
Bruce's former assistant Eric Black has taken charge of preparations for Sunday's Premier League clash with Wolves at Molineux.
The Black Cats will head for the Black Country knowing they need to improve upon the performance against Wigan last weekend which proved the final straw for Short.
As so often before this season, Sunderland started in promising fashion and led 1-0 through Sebastian Larsson's early strike.
Danger
However, a controversial Jordi Gomez penalty and substitute Franco Di Santo's injury-time winner, aided by a dreadful error from Wes Brown, condemned them to a third home defeat of the season and ultimately made Bruce's position untenable amid a furious response from the fans.
Black faces the task of instilling confidence within the squad which has been lacking in recent weeks, for the clash with Mick McCarthy's side.
Sunderland are without a victory in their last four league games, a run which has brought just two points.
They currently sit in 16th place in the table, ahead of Wolves on goal difference, with 11 points from their 13 games to date, and are in danger of being dragged into the relegation zone if they do not swiftly revive their on-field fortunes.
