Growing fear of relegation have been accompanied by rumours that several of the club’s big names - including striker Kevin Phillips, goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen and captain Michael Gray are ready to call it a day.

But as he marked his seventh anniversary in the job, Reid was defiant in the face of the mounting tension on Wearside.

‘‘I’m losing four in the summer apparently - but I haven’t been told anything,’’ he said.

‘‘If the agents and the players come to me and intimate that they want to go I’ve got a decision to make.

‘‘But certainly, those players are under contract - the majority of the ones the speculation is about until 2004 or 2005 - and it’s up to the manager of a football club to decide, and this football club is no different from any others.

‘‘I decide who goes and who stays, and certainly as a manager you want to keep your better players.’’

It is a debate Reid could do without as he attempts to drag his side out of a situation largely of their own making, but it is one he has faced before.

The day he arrived on Wearside he had just seven games in which to haul Sunderland away from the brink of relegation to Division One a feat he achieved to establish himself in the affections of the red-and-white faithful.

There have been ups and downs since - promotion to and relegation from the top flight, that famous play-off final defeat, an all-conquering Division One championship campaign and two hugely successful seasons back in the big time - but all that is easy to forget as the battle for survival reaches the point of no return.

‘‘It’s been fantastic,’’ said Reid.

‘‘I’ve had my ups and downs like everyone knows. But I’ve got to say it’s a fantastic club to manage.

‘‘The only disappointing things about this anniversary is the season we’ve had.

‘‘Obviously I would have loved it to have been a better season for me, for the players and especially for the supporters.

‘‘But the club is healthy, and my wish is that we get as many points as we can and then start again in the summer - and that’s what we’re aiming to do.’’

Reid freely admits the current season has been a massive blow but he is confident that, with the club’s new Academy and training facilities due in the New Year, the future is bright.

‘‘We’ve not been as good as I would have liked this season - there’s no hiding that,’’ he said.

‘‘But we’ve come a long way.

‘‘We have under-performed. Why do you have good seasons? Why do you have bad seasons?

‘‘There are always defining moments in a season, and when you look at a season as a whole when it finishes you pinpoint those moments and sort them out and you make sure it doesn’t happen again.’’