His reputation is high enough where he can just not bother with this kind of job though. If he was smart he'd look at the Championship table and realise some very appealing jobs could be available in the not too distant future. Leeds are falling down the table at a rate of knots, Norwich and Fulham are languishing below halfway too. It's easy to say his reputation won't be affected if he has a mare at Sunderland but why even bother taking the risk?
It's the opposite way around, I think. If he joins Leeds, Norwich or Fulham, there'll be expectations. We see this a lot with poor managers, especially ones with inferiority complexes like Moyes and Hodgson. It's more important for them to dedicate time to managing expectations and their perceived image as a grafter (whose players aren't trying), than it is to back their ability as a coach and a manager to improve a side.
The risk is in joining a side where people outside the club would be aware of your results, and scrutinise them. If he joined Sunderland and kept being this awful, he'd either get a big pay reward at the end of the season, with no reputation damage (so owners stupid enough to think he's a good manager because: Wales, and there are plenty of stupid owners, would be able to pick him up for free then). Or he stays on in a cushy high paid job, and tries to get them promoted in a much easier league
