Wigan fans are worried Sunderland will steal Paul Cook

Paul Cook won the League One title with Wigan Athletic in 2018 - could he do the same with Sunderland?

Paul Cook might not be everybody’s cup of tie but he looks like the ideal man to quench Sunderland’s gagging thirst for Championship football.

According to TEAMtalk, the sapphire-eyed Scouser is one of the names on Sunderland’s shortlist as they scour the market for Jack Ross’s replacement.

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Gary Rowett and club legend Kevin Phillips have apparently applied for the job already while Mark Robins and Daniel Stendel have admirers at the Stadium of Light. But Cook, who was on the Black Cats’ radar before Ross was appointed in 2018, looks like the stand-out candidate on paper at least.

Owner Stewart Donald apparently wants a coach with a proven League One track record and Cook ticks that box emphatically. As recently as 2018, he led Wigan Athletic to the third tier title with 98 points and 89 goals to their name.

Not only that, he then dragged the Latics away from the mire and saved them from an immediate return to League One last season and that dramatic 2-1 win away at Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United, achieved with 10 men no less, sums up the character and the desire which epitomises Cook’s Wigan.

There are some at the DW Stadium who like the idea of a fresh start but, in the eyes of the majority, it would be nothing short of a disaster if Cook walked away now.