Sunderland still want me, says manager David Moyes

London (AFP) – David Moyes has revealed Sunderland owner Ellis Short wants him to remain in charge at the Stadium of Light despite his club’s relegation from the Premier League.

Moyes criticised Short’s failure to back him in the transfer market in January and it was suggested Sunderland’s slide into the Championship would trigger the Scot’s dismissal.

But Moyes, who is also unpopular with Sunderland supporters due to his cautious tactics, has spoken to American businessman Short and Sunderland chief executive Martin Bain and the Black Cats boss insists he has their full support.

“Ellis and the board want me to stay,” Moyes said when asked if there had been a decision on his future on Friday. 

“I don’t know what you mean by ‘decision’. I’ve got a four-year contract so I don’t know what you’re talking about ‘a decision’.”

While he has been backed by Short, former Manchester United boss Moyes hinted he wants to hear more about the club’s ambitions for next season before committing to the battle to win promotion.

“I’ll know more come the end of the season, once we see exactly what we’re able to deal with, what we can work with, then we’ll know exactly what we can do,” he said.

“Right from the start we said it looked like there was a rebuilding job to be done. Hopefully we can get that going.

“I know what needs to be done to get back in the Premier League, I know the requirements, but we’ve only had initial talks.

“We plan to meet again in the next couple of weeks. We were deflated, I wouldn’t say it was an uplifting kind of meeting. 

“We weren’t there for that, we were there to talk business and none of us were happy because we’re disappointed we got relegated.”

Several key Sunderland players are likely to be sold before next season, with top scorer Jermain Defoe among the leading candidates.

“We can only lose the ones who are out of contract. Jordan Pickford is in contract so there’s nothing to say we’ll lose Jordan,” Moyes said.

“Jermain Defoe has a clause in his contract so that’s possible.”