Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson would love to see Kevin Ball land the Sunderland job.
Ball helped bring through Henderson at the Black Cats.
He told the Mail on Sunday: "I'd love him to be the manager. I texted him good luck before his first game [a 2-0 win against Peterborough in the Capital One Cup].
"He loves Sunderland. He's got them in his blood. When we were coming through, a lot of people looked at Kevin Ball like he was fighter, a battler, a warrior on the pitch.
"As a manager he's all of that but he wants his teams to get the ball down and play good football as well."
