Sunderland co-owners Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Juan Sartori have spoken out after Manchester United legend Roy Keane was heavily linked with a return to the club.
Roy Keane took his first steps into management at Sunderland after his legendary playing career came to an end in 2006 after his brief spell with Celtic.
The 52-year-old Manchester United legend did find success at Sunderland, including leading the club to a Championship title in 2006-07 season.
Despite seeing Sunderland back to the Premier League at the time, Keane’s spell at the Black Cats would come to an end after 27 months in charge.
The Irishman resigned from his head coach role in 2008 after a poor start to the 2008-09 season, with Sunderland suffering five defeats in six matches.
Keane, who has now become a key figure in punditry, went on to manage Ipswich Town in 2009 and his ill-fated spell ended with his sacking in 2011.
The former United captain and midfielder later served as assistant manager for the Republic of Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
Despite his exit from Ipswich Town, Keane previously flirted with the idea of returning to management and hinted a possible return to the dugout could happen.
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Sunderland’s owners talk Man Utd legend Keane
According to reports in 2022, Roy Keane was linked with a sensational return to Sunderland after Lee Johnson was axed from the club.
However, the Manchester United legend never returned to the Stadium of Light and Alex Neil succeeded Johnson as head coach of Sunderland instead.
Sunderland, who are currently in the Championship, have been the subject of the Netflix documentary Sunderland ‘Til I Die.
The third and final season of the documentary debuted on Tuesday, with Sunderland’s owners opening up on the speculation around Keane.
“The Roy Keane potential with Sunderland played out much more in the media than it really did in conversations that we had in the club,” Kyril Louis-Dreyf said, as per The Daily Mail.
“The second we did make the change, I knew there was going to be criticism in the moment, but the only thing I try to do is to make the decisions that I feel are the right ones for the football club.”
Juan Sartori added: “I think Roy Keane would have been fun, definitely good for the Netflix series, but maybe we had a third season of disastrous finishing.”
Keane’s stance on management
Keane recently opened up about his position on returning to management and the former United star suggested that it would be unlikely it would happen now.
However, the Sky Sports pundit previously admitted that the “challenge” of managing a club attracts him and opened up on his past experiences as a manager.
“I’d like to go back in, yeah,” Keane said on The Overlap in 2023.
“I think it’s just the challenge of getting back in.
“I’ve been out of management for a number of years now, but I’m still agitated every Saturday about not having a team and I’ve not managed for 10-11 years, so it never goes away.
“But it’s about what opportunity you’re going to get. Sunderland wasn’t easy, Ipswich was a tough challenge. It depends on the club, the timing, the contract.”
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