Friday 5 May 2017 15:00, UK
David Moyes has confirmed that he will remain in charge of Sunderland next season.
The Black Cats will be in the Sky Bet Championship for the 2017/18 campaign, having already been relegated from the top flight, but Moyes is going to try and mastermind their return to the Premier League.
Moyes said recently that a decision on his future would be made at the end of the season but, after talks with owner Ellis Short and chief executive Martin Bain, he announced at his Friday press conference that he will be staying.
Asked if there had been a decision on his future, Moyes said: "Ellis and the board want me to stay.
"I don't know what you mean by 'decision'. I've got a four-year contract, so I don't know what you're talking about 'a decision'."
Asked if he was therefore definitely committed to Sunderland for next season, Moyes replied: "Yes, so we have to work, we have to find a way to get things correct.
"We will look to see what we can do."
The former Everton and Manchester United boss took charge last summer following Sam Allardyce's departure, and famously predicted early on in the season that his side were facing a fight against relegation.
His fears proved correct but the 54-year-old boss says he is willing to try and lead a revival at the Stadium of Light.
"Right from the start, we did say it looked like a rebuilding job to be done," he added.
"Hopefully we can get that going, try and get things in place, but I will know more come the end of the season.
"Once we see exactly what we are able to deal with, what we can work with, we will know exactly what we can do."
Sunderland have regularly flirted with relegation in recent seasons before managing to escape but have endured a miserable time of it this season.
Ahead of Saturday's game at Hull, the Black Cats have won just five League games, and are seven points adrift of second-bottom Middlesbrough.
Their relegation was confirmed when they lost 1-0 at home to Bournemouth last Saturday.
Regarding his talks with Short and Bain, Moyes said: "We plan to meet again in the next couple of weeks.
"We were deflated, I wouldn't say it was an uplifting kind of meeting. We weren't there for that, we were there to talk business, and none of us were happy because we're disappointed we got relegated
"I know what needs to be done to get back in the Premier League, I know the requirements, but we've only had initial talks."
In terms of playing personnel, there is likely to be significant turnover at Sunderland between now and next term.
Moyes says he is hopeful of keeping highly rated young goalkeeper Jordan Pickford but admits that England forward Jermain Defoe could depart.
"We can only lose the ones who are out of contract," said Moyes. "Jordan Pickford is in contract, so there's nothing to say we'll lose Jordan.
"Jermain Defore has a clause in his contract, so that's possible."
