Ipswich Town have this morning announced the appointment of former Sunderland boss, Roy Keane, as their new manager after Jim Magilton failed to deliver an English Coca Cola Championship play-off place for the club’s ambitious board.
Keane, who had been out of work since December 2008 when he stepped down as manager of EPL side, Sunderland, will be hoping to recreate his first job success with the Black Cats, which saw him lead them to lift the Coca Cola Championship.
The Irishman, himself a famously ruthless defensive midfielder captaining Alex Ferguson’s Manchester Uniter of the 1990s and early 2000s, has brought much of his ambition from his playing days and is believed to be more level headed as a coach than his on-pitch displays had suggested. Many in the game tip Keane to be the long-term replacement for his old United boss when Ferguson finally does retire.
Roy Keane’s departure from Sunderland was perhaps a little out of the blue and the general feeling around the club was one of surprise: Keane stepped down leaving the club managerless. This surprised many as Sunderland had achieved a reasonably good start to the Premier League season, and Keane had been given money by the Sunderland Chairman, fellow Irishman Niall Quinn, to buy many of his targeted playing staff.
The Ipswich board will surely need to dig deep if Keane’s Sunderland M.O. is repeated: while with the club, he spent heavily on more than 25 players.
The manner in which Keane left his previous club suggests that his priorities may lie closer to home, however, so while Roy Keane will be hoping to get his career back on track with Ipswich, one question remains: will the club match Keane’s ambition?