Roy Keane will extend contract if Sunderland is up to it
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Roy Keane will extend his contract at Sunderland this summer, if the club can match his ambition. The Wearside boss is hoping to take another giant step towards Premier League survival with a win against West Ham today and claim the club's first back-to-back wins in 126 games in the top flight dating back seven years.
Staying up will allow chairman Niall Quinn and his Drumaville consortium to kick on to the next level by adding to Keane's £40million spending spree. But Ireland legend Keane only has a year left on his deal and wants to unlock the club's "massive potential" in the coming years.
He believes it is "an insult" to suggest that Sunderland is a managerial stepping stone. The Black Cats are expecting a 45,000-plus crowd at the Stadium of Light today that could take their crowd average for the season above Liverpool to become the fourth-best supported club in the land, behind only Manchester United, Arsenal and Newcastle.
Keane, whose side have taken 24 points out of 30 at home to sit four points above the drop zone, said: "I've got another year on my contract and am I happy at Sunderland? Very happy.
"If there's going to be any contract talk it'll be in the summer. In the summer I hope Sunderland can match my ambitions. We'll find that out then. If we can stabilise then we can go on to the next level. I'm optimistic about that. Sunderland is not a stepping stone for me, that would be an insult. People should not worry.
"If I'm speaking to players this summer, then they'll need to know we're heading in the right direction. We're going to get 45,000 against West Ham, imagine if we were doing well... you wouldn't be able to get a ticket. "If we can stabilise in the Premier League, then people keep asking medo I want to carry the challenge forward? But I have to ask the people who own the club the same question: 'Are we prepared to go to the next bar?' It works both ways.
"If I was ever to leave Sunderland then where would I go. There's not many bigger challenges. I've been a manager two minutes and I'm lucky to be at such a big club. "There's not a minute of any day goes by where I don't think of Sunderland and where we can get to. We're getting 44,000 on a regular basis and we're near the bottom of the league. The potential is fantastic. "The whole football club could take off and I am the man to do that. Others have tried and had bits of success, promotion. But promotion wasn't success for me, it was a stepping stone.
"As a reminder of how far we've got to go, it's 126 games since Sunderland had back-to-back wins in the Premier League. I'm not a great stat man but that's amazing. "If there's been a yo-yo club it's Sunderland and these stats back that up. We have a chance to change that between now and the end of the season."
Keane has got Alan Curbishley's vote of confidence. The Hammers boss reckons the Irishman will drag Sunderland to safety and turn them into a Premier League superpower. He said: "Their home form has been terrific. From the moment Roy went there they have gone from strength to strength. "They have invested heavily. They are clearly looking at survival this year as a success and then they can build on that."
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Roy is beginning to remind me of a certain Jose Mourinho... Quite a loose cannon in some ways... weird guy...
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Originally posted by zocoss:
Roy is beginning to remind me of a certain Jose Mourinho... Quite a loose cannon in some ways... weird guy...
quite true.
