Wicked wearside whispers

YOU COULD call it the worst-kept secret in the football world.

At his press conference in Sunderland yesterday, Niall Quinn somehow managed not to mention Roy Keane by name. Claiming to be furious that the news about the new manager had leaked prematurely, Quinn confined himself to confirming an appointment was still imminent and the mystery man would be “a world class attraction”.

Not since FAI boss John Delaney declined to confirm the identity of the new Irish manager just minutes before RTÉ television cameras filmed him getting into Steve Staunton’s car at Birmingham airport has an attempted cover-up seemed so absurdly threadbare.