Tony Mowbray has revealed he has spoken to Kristjaan Speakman and the sporting director 'hugely played-down' a report linking Sunderland with Italian coach Francesco Farioli. A tweet from respected Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano claimed that 34-year-old Farioli - who was most recently coach of Turkish side Alanyaspor - was 'top of [Sunderland's] list' as the club's new head coach for next season.
Mowbray last week shrugged off the speculation that moves were afoot to replace him, saying he had seen the report but it had not 'unnerved' him and he did not know where the rumour had come from. But when asked specifically today whether he had spoken to Speakman about the rumour, Mowbray said: "Kristjaan did come into my office and have a discussion.
"It was hugely played-down, really. I said to [the media] at the time, it's irrelevant to me - it doesn't matter.
