Martin O’Neill: Roy Keane would be 'great fit' for Sunderland

Corkman Keane – who flanked O’Neill in the Ireland and Nottingham Forest jobs – is top of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’s targets for the vacancy and held talks with Sunderland's sporting director Kristjaan Speakman on Friday.

Sun, 06 Feb, 2022 - 12:11

John Fallon

Martin O’Neill believes Roy Keane is a “great fit” for Sunderland, admitting his former assistant’s prospective return to the Black Cats is “splendid news”.

Corkman Keane – who flanked O’Neill in the Ireland and Nottingham Forest jobs – is top of Kyril Louis-Dreyfus’s targets for the vacancy and held talks with their sporting director Kristjaan Speakman on Friday.

Keane (50) suggested afterwards a decision was imminent by stating: “We’ll see how things take shape over the next few days” and the club’s need is pressing after they dropped to fourth in League One by losing 2-1 at home to basement side Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

O’Neill and Keane still meet regularly and the elder statesman, who turns 70 on March 1, feels the former Ireland and Manchester United captain retains respect from players.

“It’s a great fit because Roy had success there before,” O’Neill told The Times about Keane, who led Sunderland to the Championship title in 2007 and kept them in the Premier League the following season. “It’s splendid news.

“From my experiences working with Roy, I would really want to play for him and I would readily accept any tough times and hard words for what the praise would mean if I did something terrific to please him.” O’Neill, who says he is ready for a return to management himself, spoke of the joy the pair experienced during their Ireland reign. “Roy said qualification for the Euros and the time in France and the night against Italy (winning with an 85th-minute goal to qualify for the knockout stage) were up with anything he did as a player,” he notes. “Roy has said it too many times for me not to believe him.”