Keane taking shape as Premiership manager

by Jorge Moran, FoxSoccer.com

Updated: August 25, 2008, 6:02 PM EST 21 comments

Sunderland's season-long loan capture of French international Djibril Cisse last week is at once proof of Keane's lofty managerial ambitions, and the respect that he is garnering among the world's best footballers.

Cisse's impact was immediate. Only 18 minutes after coming on as a substitute to make his Black Cats debut at Tottenham, the striker with the oft-wild and colorful hairdos struck the header that earned the visitors their first league win at White Hart Lane in 30 years.

For a team that only twice tasted victory away from home last season, and lost 11 of its 21 league defeats by a one-goal margin, the presence of a game-winning, predatory forward like Cisse is monumental. A goal-scorer of the Frenchman's caliber, as Keane knows, can be the difference between finishing three points from the drop zone and cracking the top ten.

But prolific world-class players like Cisse don't end up in distinctly un-touristy places like Sunderland for merely monetary reasons. After all, it was only a year ago that Keane made typically controversial remarks about a player who turned down a move to the Stadium of Light for non-footballing issues.

"If a player doesn't want to come to Sunderland, then all well and good. But if he decides he doesn't want to come because his wife wants to go shopping in London, then it's a sad state of affairs," declared the former Manchester United midfielder at the time.

Keano's no-nonsense and direct approach to management and his famously honest demeanor, surely went a long way to securing not only Cisse's transfer this summer, but that of several established Premier League stars as well.

El-Hadji Diouf, the feisty but talented winger/withdrawn forward and Cisse's former teammate at Anfield, also bought into Keane's blunt charisma this off-season. As did the Tottenham trio of Steed Malbranque, Teemu Tainio, and Pascal Chimbonda.

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Last season, the Irishman's fondness for acquiring bona fide Premiership veterans and former teammates such as Andy Cole, Dwight Yorke, and Ian Harte, along with Manchester United youngsters Keiran Richardson, Phil Bardsley, and Jonny Evans, suggested a desire for a sense of familiarity and experience that could help newly-promoted Sunderland maintain its top-flight status. The goal to remain in England's upper tier was accomplished, though only just.

Keane's signings this summer, who are arguably of a much higher quality, reflect an aggressive intent to challenge for a place in European competitions and make a run at the Carling or FA Cup. And his foraging into the transfer market is not done.

Although still in the hunt for a left-back, Sunday it emerged that Sunderland had agreed a fee for West Ham center-half Anton Ferdinand, brother of Keane's old United teammate Rio. The addition of the younger Ferdinand would certainly bolster any chances the Black Cats have of competing against the 'Big Four', off whom they took not a single point in 2007-2008.

This season, his third at the helm of the club from the north east, Roy Keane will continue to polish his trade as a manager. Just how much time he will have to do so, however, remains to be seen.

The Drumaville Consortium, which owns Sunderland AFC, doled out over $80 million in transfer fees in 2007-2008. But a good amount of the 13 players brought in last season simply didn't amount to much. The picks of the bunch were striker Kenwyne Jones, midfielder Andy Reid and defender Bardsley, with goalkeeper Craig Gordon not far behind.

If fees reported in the press are to be believed, a deal for Ferdinand would put Sunderland's summer spending somewhere between $44 and $53 million.

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Keane's relationship with club chairman and former Ireland teammate Niall Quinn has been a good one. There have been no reports of rifts or animosity. On the contrary, there is a feeling that everyone involved with the team is pushing in the same direction — a novel idea in football nowadays.

Regardless of his name and standing in world football, that type of investment means that results will be demanded of Keane before too long. This is the season where he must deliver.

But Keano's managerial pedigree is much too good for him not to succeed. During his playing career, he enjoyed the rare luxury of being coached almost exclusively by legends of the game. The late Brian Clough managed him at Nottingham Forest, Sir Alex Ferguson at the Red Devils and even Gordon Strachan in his brief spell with Celtic.

His quietly menacing touchline stare already rivals that of Fergie. His presence during a press conference is unthreatening, yet commanding. And he hasn't been shy about challenging his old boss. Before the start of the season, he tipped Chelsea to win the league.

A run at the top six this season is (certainly) too soon for Sunderland, but a positive Cup campaign, like Portsmouth and Tottenham last term, is a definite possibility for Keano and his men.

Fox Soccer Channel's Premier League and Fox Football Fone-in producer Jorge Moran writes about English and continental soccer for FoxSoccer.com.