Strachan the front runner to step in for Keane
Chairman Niall Quinn, visibly numbed after a traumatic 72 hours for the Wearside club, is ready to turn to the Celtic manager in his efforts to fill the huge void left by Keane, who yesterday confirmed his decision to resign less than two-and-a-half years into the job.
Rather like Keane at Sunderland, sources suggest that Strachan feels he has taken the Scottish champions as far as he can on the limited funds at Parkhead. The odds on the 51-year-old Scot taking charge at the Stadium of Light were last night slashed from 20-1 to as low as 3-1 by some bookmakers on Wearside.
David O’Leary has thrown his hat in the ring for the Sunderland job. The former Leeds boss, out of work for two-and-a-half years since leaving Aston Villa, is ready to return to management and has made the Black Cats aware of his interest in the job.
However, it is understood that the Sunderland board are not convinced that O’Leary is the man to take the club forward. One intriguing name being floated in the north-east yesterday was that of former Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan, who quit the Magpies’ hot seat for the second time in September and is quoted at 40-1 by William Hill to defect to Wearside.
However ex-Bolton and Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce remains the bookmakers’ favourite.
Hull boss Phil Brown has already ruled himself out of the running for the Sunderland manager’s job and reiterated his commitment to the Tigers.
But after discussions last night with the Sunderland board, Quinn is expected to give Strachan first refusal, with the offer of plentiful funds available to strengthen the squad, and an official approach to Celtic is in the pipeline.
Quinn launched the search for Keane’s successor at the end of without doubt his most testing day since he took charge of the club as figurehead for the Drumaville Consortium in the summer of 2006.
It emerged last night that at one point in his increasingly desperate attempts to dissuade Keane from walking away, the 42-year-old resorted to texting his former Republic of Ireland team-mate. A clearly emotional Quinn tried to put on a brave face as he outlined his doomed bid to keep Keane, who made the decision to quit after the 4-1 home defeat by Bolton on Saturday.
A stunned Quinn insisted the 37-year-old sleep on his bombshell decision — and then spent the next three days feverishly trying to persuade the soon to be ex-manager to change his mind. Keane was in such turmoil that he stopped answering his phone for 24 hours — prompting Quinn to send a barrage of texts to keep up the heat on the wavering boss.
However Quinn’s three-day campaign ended in defeat when Keane confirmed yesterday morning that he was sticking to his guns, claiming he’d taken the club as far as he could. The Sunderland chairman revealed: “It came to that point where Roy thought he’d come to the end of this journey so reluctantly I accepted that. It’s not the easiest thing to do but it was the best thing to do in the circumstances.”
Quinn added: “We’d been in negotiations for the last few days to see if we could provide a solution together. Roy decided in the best interests of the club that somebody else takes the next chapter.
“We spent three days trying hard to see if we could find a solution but when push came to shove it’s tough to swallow. Five weeks ago our supporters were dancing in the streets after we’d beaten Newcastle. Football’s a funny world and this is not an easy day, it’s one I’d hoped I’d never come to.”
Keane was hurt by the criticism aimed at him for supposedly wasting much of the £80 million (€92m) he spent on players, including the likes of Rade Prica, Greg Halford, Michael Chopra, Anthony Stokes, Russell Anderson and David Healy who have seen little first-team action.
Quinn admits Sunderland paid the price for Keane’s own sky-high standards, and he added: “Having slipped in the last few weeks Roy is his own harshest critic and he felt that he’d completed his journey here.”
Despite walking out on the club after exactly 100 games in charge — 42 of those wins — Quinn insists Keane is no quitter after becoming the fifth Premier League manager to leave his post this season. Coach Ricky Sbragia takes charge of Saturday’s trip to Man United. Quinn said: “He lifted this place off its knees and I’d defend Roy to the hilt. How anybody could call him a quitter is really beyond me.
“He brought a way of thinking to the place and was instrumental in developing a wining mentality which was the toughest thing to do when we were at the foot of the Championship. He’s achieved so much.”
Keane had just six months remaining on his contract, and the uncertainty over his unsigned new deal sparked damaging speculation about his future. Quinn, however, insisted: “Roy and I were always comfortable that something with his contract would happen after Christmas. In the summer it looked a formality that would happen but football changes. We all know we’ve not see the last of Roy.”
The other Black Cats contenders
SAM ALLARDYCE: The 54-year-old has not worked since his ill-fated spell at Sunderland’s rivals Newcastle, ended in January after just over seven months. Allardyce, though, had great success during eight years at Bolton, leading them to the top flight and fighting off relegation before securing UEFA Cup qualification. An abrasive character, Allardyce has proved he can knit together a disparate team and big egos and instill the fighting spirit the Black Cats desperately need.
ALAN CURBISHLEY: The 51-year-old is available after resigning from West Ham in September after feeling undermined by the club’s board in transfer dealings. After joining the Hammers, he led them to a miraculous escape from relegation and took them to 10th place the following season. Curbishley spent 15 years at Charlton where he established them as a Premier League side on a tight budget and proved himself adept in the transfer market as well as developing young players.
STEVE BRUCE: Bruce is often linked to vacancies away from the JJB Stadium where he has been the incumbent since November 2007. The 47-year-old spent six seasons at Birmingham leading them to two promotions where he built a team which combined guile and strength. Last season saw him lead Wigan to safety in the Premier League. Bruce is from the northeast but is more often linked with Newcastle.
DAVID O’LEARY: The Dubliner has not worked in football management since his departure from Aston Villa in May 2006. O’Leary led a young Leeds side to the Champions League semi-finals and was linked to the Black Cats job in the 2002-03 season but instead he moved to the midlands. The 50-year-old played alongside Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn at Arsenal. His appointment, though, would probably not be a popular one with the fans.
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