Huge shift in betting odds places Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs as favourite for SAFC job

Some strange goings on in the world of betting this afternoon saw Ryan Giggs move in as favourite for the Sunderland manager's job, with some bookmakers offering odds as little as 1/5 for the former Manchester United winger to take over from David Moyes at the Stadium of Light - the latest of which you can check here.

That said, is he even a serious candidate for the role?

Whilst I'd suspect that he's more than likely sounded out the position in order to learn more about it, Giggs' only job in football management came as a caretaker replacement for David Moyes at Manchester United. The Welshman won two of the four games that he took charge of at the end of the 2013/2014 season - losing one, against Sunderland, in our great escape run which saw us finish outside of the relegation places under Gustavo Poyet.

Photo by Michael Regan/Getty Images

He then became the assistant to Louis Van Gaal at Old Trafford upon the completion of that season, before finally leaving Manchester United after almost 30 years as a player and coach when the Dutchman's contract was terminated last summer.

Since then Giggs has been mooted for a number of possible roles, most notably at Swansea City before Bob Bradley was installed as manager, but nothing concrete has arisen and it is said that Giggs is keen to wait until the right offer comes along.

Whether or not he has the fortitude to take on a job as difficult as the Sunderland manager's role is anyone's guess. Whilst it's safe to assume that he'd command considerable respect from his players on the back of his sterling playing career, Giggs has never had to work at a club with a limited budget nor has he had to deal with a massive squad overhaul like the one we can expect at Sunderland in the summer.

Personally I have no solid opinion either way on Giggs as a manager. It would be impossible to predict what kind of job we can expect him to do because his experience in the game as a head coach is limited.

In all honesty I hope that the shift in the betting market this afternoon isn't indicative of what is to come. I feel that Sunderland need to bring in someone that has worked under difficult conditions before, that will understand the scale of the task at hand and that already has the connections within the game to make shrewd and clever decisions on lower league players.