McCarthy set to take charge as Wilkinson goes

Sunderland, the only Premiership club to have dismissed a manager this season, last night fired their second incumbent of the campaign, ending the tortuous five-month reign of Howard Wilkinson.

Wilkinson, who quit his post as the FA's technical director to take charge at the Stadium of Light following Peter Reid's dismissal in October, will be judged on results to be the least successful manager in Sunderland's history. He won only two of his 20 Premiership matches and was fired after a string of six successive defeats. Wilkinson leaves Sunderland bottom of the Premiership, seven points from safety with nine matches remaining.

His assistant, Steve Cotterill, who left his job as Stoke manager to become Wilkinson's No 2 in the hope he would be groomed for the succession, was also sacked and was watching a reserve game when news of his dismissal was announced.

The club stated they hoped to have a successor in place by the time they play Bolton at homeon Saturday. Despite their parlous position, there will be no shortage of candidates, with the former Republic of Ireland manager, Mick McCarthy, likely to be the front-runner.

It is unlikely that the former Leeds manager, David O'Leary, would consider a club on the brink of relegation and faced with the prospect of making deep budget cuts an attractive proposition. Further savings will have to be made to pay the remaining two and a half years on both Wilkinson and Cotterill's contracts. Their former captain, Kevin Ball, a favourite among the fans for his uncompromising loyalty, is now a coach and may be given a more high-profile role.

Following Reid's departure after seven, mainly successful, years on Wearside, Wilkinson's appointment seemed a shrewd move by the Sunderland chairman, Bob Murray, but it only accelerated the club's decline. Wilkinson was supposed to improve standards of coaching and fitness which had allegedly slid badly under Reid, and the fact that he had never been relegated as a manager was an obvious attraction. That Cotterill and Wilkinson both held Uefa pro-licences was seen by many as an antidote to Reid's regime, which set much store by team bonding, sometimes conducted at his favourite Italian restaurant.

Murray, who said last night that the "club and its supporters have faced disappointment over a drawn-out period," must wonder why he bothered. Wilkinson inherited a team which had won five of its last 28 games. He won two out of 20. He noted at his inaugural press conference that they had lost to Fulham after dominating the match. His last game was against Fulham, a contest Sunderland controlled but lost. Under Reid, they survived last season because they were beat their rivals for relegation, taking 10 points off Derby, Leicester and Ipswich. This term, their tally against West Brom, West Ham and Bolton is two.

In his defence, Wilkinson was saddled with a wave of indifferent and expensive signings by the previous regime which left Sunderland no room for manoeuvre. Between them, Tore Andre Flo, Marcus Stewart, Stephen Wright and Matt Piper delivered precious little at a cost of £14m.

Eleven years after becoming the last English manager to win his domestic championship, Wilkinson's reputation is vastly diminished. His decision to take over the England Under-21 side that had qualified for the European Championship without losing a match under Peter Taylor ended in failure while his spell as Sunderland manager appeared to confirm the suspicion he was unable to relate to young footballers.

On arriving on Wearside, Wilkinson remarked that he had learned during his six years away from club football that "perception is everything" and promised to be more media-friendly. He ended his reign holding press conferences to explain bizarre statements made in previous press conferences. His remark that Kevin Phillips had gone from wearing the European Golden Boot to Wellington boots did not go down well with the striker, who turned up to the club's training ground in wellies. Recently, Wilkinson declared that, in his mind, Sunderland were already safe. They were then last in the Premiership.

The former Sunderland goalkeeper, Jim Montgomery, said: "I'm just gobsmacked. It came totally out of the blue. It's going to be very difficult for someone coming in to put it right."

However, former Sunderland manager, Denis Smith, had no hesitation recommending the position to anyone who may be tempted. "It is a super job," he said. "I had a great time and enjoyed every minute of it. But the fans will be extremely upset about what has been happening ­ especially with the way Newcastle are doing."