Former England striker Brian Deane believes Roy Keane could be the right manager for Sunderland.
Deane had a short spell at Sunderland, as well as excelling with Sheffield United and Leeds United in the Premier League, and had a couple of years managing at Norwegian side Sarpsborg 08 after he retired.
Keane also had several attempts at management, including one spell at Sunderland where he took the club into the Premier League, guided them to survival the following season, before leaving in his third year in charge.
Since then he had a short spell in charge of Ipswich, before being assistant coach at Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Ireland. But he now appears settled into his role at Sky Sports and ITV as a pundit despite being linked with a return to management.
There is speculation he could step in at Sunderland after the dismissal of Michael Beale, and speaking to CasinoDays, the home of live casino games, Deane thought Keane could make a go of things once more.
He said: “I think it depends on the approach really, and I think it’s important to recognise their role as the bridge between the main board and the actual coaching staff. If you’re not working with a sporting director then it’s a lot more work, and the structure that they’ve got in place now is more about the manager being the person who is allowed to focus on everything.
“The sporting director implements the kind of signings based on what the manager wants, and the style of play they want to play is down to the manager.
“I think that helps Roy in this situation. I can’t see how it doesn’t. You have to have a good relationship, and it means a certain amount of flexibility on both sides, but I think it would help him because it allows him to focus on getting performances out of the players.”
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