Simon Grayson reveals what Martin Bain told him after arrival at Sunderland in 2017

Grayson was appointed to the Stadium of Light hot seat in the summer of 2017 as the Black Cats targeted an instant return to the Premier League.

But things didn’t go to plan for the former Leeds United and Blackpool boss, who was sacked in October with Sunderland languishing at the wrong end of the table.

His successor, Chris Coleman, was also unable to stave off the threat of relegation with the Wearsiders ultimately suffering a second successive drop.

Grayson took over Sunderland at a time when then-chairman Ellis Short’s interest was failing following the American tycoon’s huge investment into the club, which reaped little reward.

Martin Bain was appointed as Sunderland’s chief operating officer in 2016 with Short instructing the former Rangers man to cut costs at the Stadium of Light.

Grayson explained to the Sacked In The Morning Podcast: “I remember going into Sunderland. Once I got there, Martin Bain, the CEO, said look we need to make some cuts and make some cuts to the staff behind the scenes.

"That wasn’t an issue for me because coming from Preston, I had a couple of physios and all of a sudden Sunderland had four in each department, so it wasn’t something I was too bothered about, losing a couple of members and the cost-cutting exercise.

"It was something that didn’t really get discussed at the time but it didn’t affect me when I got offered the job at the time in the first place.