Roy Keane New Sunderland Manager

[Matt]

Roy Keane has been confirmed as Sunderland's new manager.

The former Manchester United and Celtic midfielder has signed a three-year contract at the Stadium of Light.

He finalised the deal after watching Sunderland beat West Brom 2-0, their first win of the season.

Keane earned legendary status in a glittering 12-year career at Old Trafford, when he was widely regarded as the most influential midfielder of the modern era.

He made a total of 480 League and cup appearances for United, scoring 51 goals and winning no less than 13 trophies during a golden era for the club.

Keane has been capped 65 times for the Republic of Ireland, playing in the 1994 and 2002 World Cup finals.

Leicester City's Tony Loughlan joins Keane at the club, in the roll of head coach.

Keane, a former international team-mate of Quinn, watched today's game against West Brom from the stands before starting his job tomorrow.

The Sunderland chairman-manager today expressed his delight at getting his man. Quinn said: "This represents a major coup for our football club.

"The fact that one of the most influential figures in world football is willing to come and help unlock the massive potential here should make all Sunderland fans very happy and excited for the future.

"Roy Keane's standards of professionalism are legendary and his desire and determination to succeed are precisely what this club requires.

"Let's all support and enjoy one of football's true greats as he embarks on what we all hope will be a fantastic new chapter in Sunderland Football Club's rich and proud history."

[Wasyls Pec Deck]

Risky, hope he gets them relegated again, then we'll see if he honours a 3 year contract! Got a feeling he'll do ok though

[Matt]

If Brian Kidd was there with him i'd say he'd be ok and struggle through, however he has took our academy coach a very young and although good at youth level very unexperience coach, Both Keane and Loughlan are both unexperienced and as I said before they may do well no-ones sure, no-one can say they'll do bad but equally no-one can say they'll do bad, but how Quinn said he will bring in a "World Class manager" I don't know.

[l444ry]

Talk about Mourinho, Wenger and Benitez not shaking hands after a game, can you imagine when Sunderland play Wolves????

[lildave3]

Talk about Mourinho, Wenger and Benitez not shaking hands after a game, can you imagine when Sunderland play Wolves????

, cant wait to see that!!

[Durnerz]

I think he'll do well, although a fall out with Quinn is on the cards given the way Nialls spoken about Keane in previous situations like 2002 World Cup then last year on Sky when asked if Keane would ever be a good manager Quinn said "Doubtful"!

[lcfc_jme]

Don't understand the thinking in Keane taking on a job as difficult as this for his first effort in management. Sunderland are absolutely rubbish, and, although they won against WBA, they may still struggle, as those 3 points were their first points of the season. but then again, they may all be too scared to struggle with Keane in charge.

[lookwhaticando]

Don't understand the thinking in Keane taking on a job as difficult as this for his first effort in management. Sunderland are absolutely rubbish, and, although they won against WBA, they may still struggle, as those 3 points were their first points of the season. but then again, they may all be too scared to struggle with Keane in charge.

At the minute, most would suggest it's a foolish decision - to replace one inexperienced manager (Quinn) with another (Keane - who has even less experience than the 6 games Quinn has under his belt). They would have been better off going for an established manager - but obviously, Quinn's proposition wasn't enough for established managers, hence he picked a non-entity in the managerial sense.

Why Keane chose to accept the job? It's a huge challenge, and Keane loves a challenge. It's a 'big' job - a large team, large mostly-loyal fanbase. And, he was basically let in thru the backdoor - it's quite apparent that Quinn didn't bother asking Keane too many questions... just 'Do you want the job?' a couple of times (2 or 3 months ago, and just 2 weeks ago). That's what I'm getting from the stories around the appointment - Keane didn't really have to do much to get the job, it seems. Always nice to have a job lined up for you without even trying too hard to get it.