SUNDERLAND chairman Niall Quinn insists he will not rush into making his next managerial appointment after cooling his interest in appointing Steve Bruce.

On the day Quinn claimed it was the “start of a new era”

after it was announced Ellis Short is to take complete control of the club, Sunderland’s interest in bringing in Bruce receded.

While a deal for the Wigan manager could still be revived, it is understood the Black Cats chairman is now reassessing the options with the likes of Roberto Mancini and Slaven Bilic mentioned.

Both are interested in the role of succeeding Ricky Sbragia and Quinn has outlined a determination to take things slowly before rushing into a knee-jerk appointment.

“It would be foolish for us to jump in and go for the first name available,” said Quinn.

“There’s a process to be gone through and the main part of that process is identifying someone who is available who will bring a different mentality, a mentality that puts the heart outside the jersey, so you can see the effort and commitment.

“They have to change the mentality in the dressing room, everything will rub off on that, so we need a strong character. Hopefully with plenty of experience of doing that, who can spot a good player.”

Yesterday morning it looked nailed on that Bruce would be heading for the Stadium of Light after discussions between Sunderland and Wigan.

But it is thought Wigan chairman Dave Whelan angered Quinn by going public on his decision to grant the Corbridge-born manager permission to talk to Sunderland when a compensation package was far from agreed.

That package amounted to somewhere between £3m and £5m – the former is the fee Wigan paid to Birmingham in 2007 – and further compensation deals would have to be agreed for members of his backroom team at the DW Stadium.

While finding the correct manager is vital before preseason training in July, Quinn feels the biggest hurdle has already been overcome in convincing American businessman Short to take control.

And Quinn has been left in no doubt that the Irish-American, who has bought out the remaining members of the Drumaville consortium, will lead Sunderland through successful times.

“What it means going forward is fantastic news,” said the Sunderland chief. “We’re talking about a world recession at the moment, but what this means for Sunderland is having a man who is very successful at getting businesses to reach their peak and their maximum.

“He’s got a football club that showed it’s true colours at the weekend the infrastructure and passion and training ground, the youth team and here’s a guy who can bring the next ingredient that has been missing and that’s the financial muscle to help us compete at the next level.

“We can start to look at recruitment of players in a different light, but we have to be smart. Ellis is nobody’s fool.

The whip is really cracking now and that’s what we need.

It means the club has a great chance going forward.”

With former manager Roy Keane investing more than £80m in the squad during his two years working under Drumaville, Quinn admits that while there will be money to spend the next boss will have to be more astute with his spending.

“We’ve got to make sure what we do is good, bring people to the club who can make a difference. We’re at another level as well where we have to appoint a manager as well,”

he said.

“It’s like the start of a new era in many ways, but it’s very important myself and the board make the right decisions.

Ellis is not hands on, he doesn’t tell us what to do, he’s enjoyed the trip to this point, but he’s stepped over the line now so the real pressure starts. It’s a pressure I love because it gives us a chance to do something very, very big.”

Quinn also paid tribute to Drumaville for the way they bankrolled Sunderland into the Premier League after buying out Bob Murray in 2006.

Drumaville chairman John Ryan, along with fellow nonexecutive directors Pat Bierne, John Hays, Charlie Chawke and Owen McGartoll, step down to be replaced by a streamlined board made up of Quinn, Steve Walton, Lesley Callaghan, Margaret Byrne and Chris Woerts.