Sam Allardyce refused to give reassurances about his future beyond the end of the Premier League season as Sunderland fight to avoid relegation.
Sunderland are embroiled in a relegation scrap, with Allardyce and Co. third from bottom and two points adrift of safety after 30 rounds.
Allardyce was asked about his plans should Sunderland fail to preserve their top-flight status but the English manager was tight-lipped.
"That [decision] won't happen until we know where we are and whether we are relegated, [if] we are mathematically not capable of staying in the Premier League, that decision will be made between me and Ellis [Short, Sunderland's owner]," he said.
"I'm not going to speculate more than that because I don't know how the budgets are going to lie, what and where we have to cut financially, and I don't know exactly what sort of squad I will be left with until that position arises.
"I don't want to talk about that position, apart from starting to pencil in what our pre-season will look like – not what our squad will look like – next season."
Sunderland host West Brom in the Premier League on Saturday.
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