ROKER RAPPORT PODCAST SPECIAL: A Life in Football - The Ricky Sbragia Story!

Well Lads and Lasses, our Chris Wynn had the opportunity to talk to the legend that is Ricky Sbragia about his career as a player, his ridiculously successful coaching career, and his time as a dedicated - yet reluctant - first team manager who guided Sunderland to safety in the Premier League following the sudden departure of Roy Keane.

What’s the crack?

Ricky started out his footballing life as a Birmingham player, later joining Walsall, Blackpool and York City where he played under the likes of Viv Busby and Denis Smith alongside a few players Sunderland fans would come to know well later on - which periods, players and managers stood out for him?

Why did he make the move into coaching - and how many lads were left at York City after Denis and Viv left for Roker - besides a certain Bobby Saxton of course...

Finally following in his fellow York City legends footsteps he joined Sunderland as a coach in 1994 - what were his first impressions of the club and manager at the time Mick Buxton?

How were his experiences working alongside legends like Monty, George Herd, Pop Robson and then again with the great Sacko under Peter Reid?

Who were his favourite players to work with, and who was an absolute pain in the arse?

The years of success under Reidy and then the decline following his departure - how did Ricky make the move to Manchester United to work alongside Mike Phelan and Sir Alex Ferguson?

What were the big differences between the coaching styles of the two sides - besides the level of talent available to him?

Did he ever do anything to aggravate Sir Alex - and if he did how long did he avoid him for afterwards?

His thoughts on the old reserve system - where thousands would turn up to watch a mix of youth and experience. Is it a superior system to the one currently in use in his opinion?

Ricky's move back to Sunderland after a call from Cookie to coach under Roy Keane, the highs and lows of what followed and his transition to manager following Roy’s sudden departure - how did Niall Quinn convince him to take the job on, despite Ricky knowing how his relationship with the players would change.

His decision to resign after guiding Sunderland to survival - how different is managing first team sides - is it as rewarding as working with the young players?

Big Sam’s war room revelations - so what was that like?

His career since leaving Sunderland for the second time and his opinion of what went wrong for Sunderland under Ellis Short;

Ricky gives his thoughts on current Sunderland manager Lee Johnson - tells us why he turned down Lee’s job offer - and gives his view on the current Sunderland owner KLD and direction of the club.

All this and so much more. A deep dive into a fascinating career with an absolute delight of a man who may well have preferred to stay out of the limelight - but who certainly deserves every bit of acknowledgement and praise he gets in our opinion. Thanks for listening and enjoy! #SAFC #YCFC #MUFC #EFL #EPL #RickySbragia Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.