Mark Venus will join his long-term colleague Tony Mowbray in the dugout at Sunderland this evening. The 55-year-old was appointed assistant manager at Sunderland, taking up the vacant position following Martin Canning's departure for Stoke City to join Alex Neil at the bet365 Stadium.
So who is the new assistant coach and what do we know about him? Born in Hartlepool, Venus came through the academy at his hometown club and would have a playing career spanning 19 seasons.
He would represent the likes of Leicester City, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Ipswich Town, Cambridge United and Hibernian before retiring in 2004. Venus played alongside Mowbray at the Tractor Boys and the pair were reunited once more at Easter Road in a coaching capacity.
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The pair have worked together at West Bromwich Albion, Celtic and Middlesbrough, while Venus also took up the role as technical director at Coventry City. His time at the Sky Blues was short lived as Venus would link up with Mowbray once more at Blackburn Rovers during a five year tenure.
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