richard 'ricky' spragia (born may 26, 1956) is a former scottish footballer who currently manages sunderland. he was appointed in late december 2008 after the previous manager roy keane walked out after a run of bad results which had left sunderland towards the foot of the table. in his first four games as caretaker manager he managed two wins and a draw and this was enough to get him the unanimous vote of the board and was appointed with a permanent contract on december 27, 2008.