Ipswich only a stepping stone for Keane

BEFORE the events of this week, the last time I had written about Roy Keane was in the immediate aftermath of his shock departure from the Stadium of Light when, amid the general air of gloom and doom on Wearside, I asked that people spare a thought for the owners of a public house in Sunderland who had just been forced to put their business up for sale.

The name of the pub? (Hankies at the ready, please). ‘Keano’s’.

Now, I note that, according to a newspaper in East Anglia, Keane’s equally sudden arrival in Ipswich is expected to do wonders for the property market there. Said David Bedford of a Bury St Edmunds-based estate agents and an Ipswich Town season ticket holder for more than 30 years: “It is a question of confidence in the housing market. I think the appointment of Roy Keane will probably do more for the property market than Alastair Darling did in his budget.”