Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn says he joined the club with his eyes wide open after his experiences at Manchester City.

Quinn told the Mail on Sunday: "I knew the dangers because I was at Manchester City when Francis Lee took over. He was a big hero from his playing days and when he took over, fans thought he'd wave a magic wand and they'd be bigger than Manchester United.

"But the club hit the buffers, the spine of the team went and they were even relegated to the third tier. The City experience was a huge learning curve. Going out and just doing what the fans want is the passport to ruin. And I have to be honest enough to tell the fans themselves that.

"I was here when the club were at full throttle under Peter Reid. Kevin Phillips was scoring 30 goals a season and the stadium was sold out every week. When I came back, the team were in the Championship and had officially become the worst side ever in the Premier League.

"We'd lost 15,000 season-ticket holders and when staff tried to contact customers to see if they wanted to hire a box or something, they'd get abuse back down the phone.

"We had 11 public engagements to try to win the season-ticket holders back. They didn't get any promises off me except hard work, but it was the chance for them to vent frustration. I was dubbed 'Billy Graham' because I was seen as an evangelist, but it worked. The fans gave us a chance."