Keane reveals Quinn anecdote as reason for taking charge of Cats
Roy Keane has revealed why he took charge of Sunderland when the team were struggling near the bottom of the Championship.
After being relegated from the Premier League the season before, Sunderland endured a terrible start to the 2006/07 Championship season under caretaker boss and chairman Niall Quinn.
Roy Keane was the man they turned to in order to change their fortunes – a decision that proved to be a golden one come May.
But before Keane turned the Black Cats into promotion contenders, he first had to prove he was the right man for the job, one that would turn out to be his first step into management.
“I certainly hadn’t applied for any jobs. I had just finished my coaching badges but then things materialised that maybe I’d have a chance of going to Sunderland.” Keane said on the Mackem Miracle documentary.
“I spoke to Niall Quinn at the start of the summer, but it just didn’t feel like it was the right timing for me.”
When asked what made him change his mind, Keane revealed that it was a humbling defeat for the Black Cats, combined with a distressed looking Quinn, that made him take on the role.
“Believe it or not, Sunderland had a game and I was looking at the scores and I think they got beat by Bury in the League Cup.
“I was with some family members and Niall got interviewed and one of them said they felt Niall was going to have a heart attack – not that that swayed me,” Keane grinned.
“But I thought, after having been away on holiday with the family, they knew I was still hungry and ambitious, Sunderland is a big job and I suppose it was a case
of let’s go for it and see how it goes.”
The former Manchester United man also revealed that, after watching his new side defeat West Brom from the stands, he didn’t believe wholesale changes were needed at that time and that the player simply needed a boost in confidence:
“Before I officially took over, I went to watch a game
and obviously they had just been relegated and they’d had a poor start to the season.
“The culture of the club, the environment, when you’ve been relegated it’s of course very negative - and they had no manager.
“Watching the game, I thought it was a club with huge potential.
"They’ve got a group of players that have lost a lot of confidence. Get me in there and I’m sure I can help them out.
“I think it was a gamble from both sides. I was obviously inexperienced and Sunderland were secondbottom of the Championship, but that’s what life is about, sometimes you have to go in and take the opportunity.”
Keane eventually took charge of exactly 100 games as Sunderland manager, winning 43 of them as he guided the Black Cats back to the Premier League before securing their top-flight status a season later.
His reign on Wearside came to an end in December 2008 after a humbling 4-1 defeat at home to Bolton Wanderers.