Roy Keane to hold talks with Sunderland about vacant managerial job after sacking of Lee Johnson - reports
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Updated 03/02/2022 at 12:11 GMT
Eleven years after his last managerial role, Roy Keane could be set for a sensational return to the dugout at Sunderland. The 50-year-old took charge of the Black Cats previously from 2006-08, but resigned under a cloud following disagreements with then chairman Ellis Short. He moved on to manage Ipswich before a series of assistant roles, but now he could become a No. 1 again.
Roy Keane has never ruled out a return to management
Image credit: Getty Images
Sunderland are set to interview Roy Keane as they step up their search for a new manager.
Keane managed the Black Cats from 2006-08 and has always retained an affinity for the club and the area, with the feeling mutual from many fans.
And after the sacking of Lee Johnson last weekend following Sunderland's 6-0 drubbing by Bolton, owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus is making moves to fill the gap.
Sky Sports reports that Keane is considering a return to management, having never ruled it out despite not having held a No.1 role since 2011 at Ipswich Town. He has since held assistant roles with the Republic of Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest but has had interest in him as a head coach, as he revealed to former Manchester United teammate Gary Neville in August.
“I’ve had interviews, I had an interview recently,” Keane said on Neville's YouTube channel The Overlap.
“I spoke to a Championship club [in May last year]. It was very casual, it was at my house, and I had a chat with the chairman. And to be fair, he was straight up, he went, ‘Listen, we just want somebody who can come in and win football matches’.
“That was fine with me, I didn’t have to break down styles of play. And I think if you’re winning matches, people don’t then question, ‘What’s your style of play?’
"You just bounce into the next match, don’t you? And we did it as players.”
Keane also discussed his affinity for Sunderland in his book ‘The Second Half’, published in 2014:
"I didn’t resign or walk out," he said.
"I said I couldn’t work with Ellis Short. An agreement was reached. I don’t think he was sorry to see me go, and I didn’t want to work for him.
‘It still saddens me. I still think I should be manager of Sunderland. I really liked the club, and I liked the people."
Keane is not the only name in the frame for the job on Wearside however, with Mick McCarthy, Neil Lennon, Neil Warnock and Grant McCann understood to be in the running.
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