THE odds on Roberto Mancini becoming Sunderland’s new boss tumbled last night after the former Inter Milan and Lazio coach reiterated his desire to take charge of a Premier League club.

Niall Quinn was in Dublin yesterday but the chairman is not thought to have made significant progress on appointing a new manager, with Wigan’s Steve Bruce among a number of options under consideration.

Bruce remains the leading candidate to succeed Ricky Sbragia but with Wigan determined to secure a handsome compensation package before they’ll sanction his departure, Quinn is keeping options open.

Mancini’s experience of handling big egos and his impressive spell in charge of Inter Milan, where he won three successive league titles, saw him linked with a move to Roma this summer. But Mancini has rejected that option and remains focused on expanding his managerial experience away from his homeland.

“Yes I have said that I would like to return to coaching,’’ he said. “However I do not see myself at Roma next season. It is the right time now for me to try out an experience abroad.”

Mancini has been out of the game since making way for Joe Mourinho at Inter last season and the 44-year-old has declared his determination to return to club management this summer.

Ellis Short’s financial muscle makes Sunderland an attractive proposition for an incoming manager and former Barcelona boss Frank Rijkaard is also believed to be monitoring the situation.

Short’s takeover will fund significant investment in the playing squad leaving many of the squad facing the axe.

One player determined to survive the player cull set to sweep through the Stadium of Light this summer is Kieran Richardson.

Sunderland’s dismal end to the season will see wholesale changes to the playing squad, with David Healy and Paul McShane the latest players linked with an exit from the club this summer.

Richardson’s stunning strike to secure victory in the Wear-Tyne derby was the high point of another hit-andmiss campaign for the former Manchester United midfielder, whose form matched Sunderland’s stuttering campaign.

Nevertheless, he declared his determination to be part of what he anticipates will be an exciting period of change at the Stadium of Light. “Of course I’m committed to the club,” he insisted. “I’m a Sunderland player until they tell me I’m not.”

Asked if he anticipated several new faces joining the squad, Richardson replied: “Yeah, with the takeover from Ellis Short hopefully he can bring in top-drawer players and that’s better for us. The better players he brings in, it’s going to make us better as players. I’m sure the fans will be looking forward to that.’’

Short’s takeover at the club is expected to trigger significant transfer activity this summer.

Richardson revealed that Short, who was in the directors box for Sunday’s defeat to Chelsea, had been introduced to the players prior to their penultimate game of the season at Portsmouth. “I’ve met him but I don’t really know a lot about him. We don’t really know a lot about what happens at that level. We just play our football as a group.

“He spoke to the players and introduced himself (at Fratton Park) and that’s about it really. He just said he was taking over the club,” confirmed Richardson, who revealed he had been happy with his form throughout the campaign.

“I feel as though I played a lot better football this season but it’s a team game and the league doesn’t lie. It shows we’ve had a bad season. I know we should have won a few games and got ourselves out of there but the league’s been so tight this season. Hopefully next season we can make progress and move up the league.”

“We’ve got a strong squad and with the players we’ve got we shouldn’t have been in the position we were. We talked a lot about how we shouldn’t be down there with the money we’d spent and the players we had, but sometimes football does that.

“Look at Newcastle they’ve got players who’ve played in World Cups and were relegated.”