Gustavo Poyet's desperation to be named the new Sunderland manager is continuing apace as he spoke about how he has been pestering his former Chelsea teammates to see if they have any interest in the job.
Speaking to South American radio stations, the Uruguayan told how he'd contacted fellow out of work manager Roberto Di Matteo, and Watford boss Gianfranco Zola;
I called him and said "Really, are you interested?" and he said "No." I said "Good, thank you. One less!
Another was Gianfranco Zola.
While expressing his glee that the two had ruled themselves out of the running, he also seemed to show he had a little bit of knowledge of Sunderland's situation;
It's a team with lots of backroom staff and scouting staff from Italy.
It was possible it would have been easier to go down that line, for the understanding between people from the same country.
It's a new team, very international, and it would be convenient for the new person to speak various languages.
You wouldn't need to have translators continually. That is something that helps me, because I have that ability.
All very valid points from Poyet, but the question marks remain over the sheer level of his desperation to be given the role, which may be seen as a hinderance. There's also the fact he's not managed at this level before.
An appointment isn't likely to be made any time soon as Sunderland still want to talk to other candidates, including former Manchester United man Rene Meulensteen and Basel boss Murat Yakin, although the latter is said to be a rank outsider for the position.
Meulensteen remains an outsider too, but his odds are coming in after stalling on a deal to become part of Martin Jol's backroom staff at Fulham.
He brings a wealth of experience as a coach, and has lots of respect from players within the game for his innovation on the training ground.