WITH a cruel irony it was Everton, of all clubs, who inflicted a defeat which left Peter Reid wondering whether the fates had finally conspired against him in his fight to survive at Sunderland.

If Reid's redoubtable reputation as a midfield warrior was forged in Everton's title-winning side of the mid-80s, his managerial prowess was confirmed when he steered Sunderland to a second successive seventh-place Premiership finish two seasons ago.

The former England international's stock, however, is now at rock bottom on Wearside.

Last season's relegation scare has been followed by a return of one point from the opening two games of the new term, and no goals scored.

With a visit to leaders Leeds on Wednesday ahead of the arrival of Manchester United at the Stadium of Light this Saturday, Sunderland fans already fear a renewed battle against the drop.

To compound Reid's problems, he faces a race against time before this weekend's transfer deadline to end his Europe-wide 'Search for a Striker'.

If he fails, Kevin Phillips will be forced to carry the weight of Sunderland's attacking expectations until the new year at least.

By then, it might be too late for Reid, whose near seven-and-a-half-year grip on power at Sunderland is growing weaker.

When asked how important the next two games are to his future, Reid would only say: "I don't think I'm the man to answer that.

"I'm the manager and I think that should be answered by someone else.''

Even Phillips, Reid's greatest success story on Wearside since his capture from Watford for £650,000 five years ago, couldn't avert Saturday's damaging defeat.

Having missed from the penalty spot three times last season, Phillips suffered the ignominy of four failures in a row when Richard Wright defied him 20 minutes from time.

Wright atoned, saving Phillips' firmly struck spot-kick one-handed before grabbing the ball on the line, after being penalised for a push on Sunderland player-coach Niall Quinn, who had been on the field only two minutes as a substitute.

The keeper had already been let off by an offside flag when he allowed Claudio Reyna's curling free-kick to elude him and fly into the corner of the net.

Before then, Scotland striker Kevin Kyle, making his first senior start for Sunderland, was clipped by Everton defender Gary Naysmith when clean through on the edge of the area.

Referee Rob Styles awarded no foul, but Reid refused to grumble about either decision.

The Sunderland boss admitted he had sensed the worst as early as the eighth minute when Phillips hit the bar with a close-range follow-up after Wright had blocked his initial effort.

Reid said: "When Kev missed that chance, I thought: 'I hope it's not going to be one of those days.'

"I was right - it turned out to be one of those days.

"But we had enough chances to get back into the game, even though Everton made it difficult because they defended well.''

David Moyes' men withstood Sunderland's early assault to take the lead in the 28th minute when Kevin Campbell forced home Tomasz Radzinski's knock down.

The penalty gave Sunderland the perfect opportunity to reply, but Reid exonerated Phillips from any blame.

"We had a chat about it and Kev said he fancied it,'' said Reid. "I'm not going to argue with a striker of his calibre. He hit it well but the keeper made a great save.''

When Quinn headed against a post three minutes later, Sunderland's day was complete.

The fans were given a first glimpse of £3.5m new boy Matt Piper, who signed from Leicester last week.

Piper, normally a winger, came on as a substitute for Kyle and provided stopgap support for Phillips until Quinn's appearance at the expense of midfielder Jason McAteer, who looked far from happy as his exit was met with jeers from the home crowd.

Measure of the spreading disillusionment was gauged by an attendance of 37,698, nearly six-and-a-half-thousand down on last season's Premiership average.

It was perhaps the sombre mood of the day that tempered the fans' reaction towards Reid and the result.

There was booing but only a lone voice chanting "Reid out'' at the end of a game which had been preceded by a minute's silence in memory of Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, and Jake Craddock, Sunderland defender Jody's four-month-old son who died last week.

Trivial though it may seem when set against the tragedy of young lives lost, there is no guarantee of such decorum at the Stadium of Light if Sunderland lose to Leeds and Man. United

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