Enigmatic Keane remains centre stage

Roy Keane may have walked away from Sunderland but he remained firmly centre stage on Friday, as Premier League managers and pundits contemplated what comes next for one of the game's most enigmatic figures.

Sir Alex Ferguson, perhaps one of the few individuals able to claim they really knew the Irishman, said Keane may have turned his back on management for good after deciding he could not carry on in his first managerial job just 48 hours before he was due to lead his players out at Old Trafford.

Ferguson worked with Keane for 12 years at United and was close to him before the midfielder's ferocious criticism of some of his team-mates precipitated an acrimonious end to his United career at the end of 2005.

Ferguson said: “We all wish Roy well because he was a great player here at United and it's a pity that he has left Sunderland. It's difficult to say whether he will want to come back into management or not.

“But there are very few managers that last more than 3-4 years at a club nowadays and the lifespan of a manager at a club is getting shorter and shorter.

“They can move on to different challenges, but it's a very precarious industry nowadays and a very emotional game.”

Mark Hughes, the Manchester City boss who played alongside Keane at United, believes his old team-mate will be unable to stay away from the game.

“Roy is a young man and still has a great future in the game,” Hughes said.

“Maybe he just needs that breathing space to refresh himself, take a step back and learn from the experience.

“He will have had his reasons for leaving Sunderland. He is a very forthright and straight guy. Once he makes a decision he sticks to his guns. That seems to be what has happened here.

“You just sensed he was going to consider his future and possibly walk away and that is what has happened.”

Keane's decision to quit was however interpreted less charitably in other quarters. “He's taken the easy option,” said his former Ireland team-mate Tony Cascarino, who predicted that Keane would not return to management.

“No-one will give him the opportunity to manage a football club because they won't trust him — that's the bottom line.”

Cascarino also questioned whether Keane was ever cut out for management given what he described as his “insular” nature.

“(As a player) he didn't have friendships, he didn't care and ultimately his dealing with people has been his downfall,” Cascarino said.