Keane: Taken club as far as he could

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Sunderland chairman Niall Quinn believes accepting Roy Keane's resignation was 'the best thing to do' after admitting the Irishman felt he had taken the club as far as he could.

Keane left the Stadium of Light on Thursday following talks with the club's board regarding his future on Wearside.

The former Manchester United captain had been questioning his position as Black Cats boss following the club's slide down the Premier League table in recent weeks.

He had hinted last week that he may not sign an extension to his contract, which was due to expire at the end of the season, and was also downbeat after a 4-1 home defeat by Bolton Wanderers.

Quinn 'reluctantly' accepted Keane's decision to call time on his first managerial job which had seen him lead Sunderland into the Premier League in his debut season.

Keane's contribution to the club's progress was praised by Quinn, who admits he did his utmost to ease any pressure on the shoulders of his former Republic of Ireland team-mate.

Respected figure

"He had put a lot of effort in here, brought more than just his presence here - he brought a way of thinking into this place," said Quinn.

"He was instrumental in developing a winning mentality - that was the toughest thing of all for him to come and do when we were at the foot of the Championship.

"He brought standards to this club which are amazing. But to do that, it's intense.

"He is such a respected figure around the world that the media is intense, the fan pressure is intense.

"I tried for two years to keep as much pressure off him as possible, but obviously the Premier League is the Premier League and I guess it came to the point where Roy thought he had reached the end of that journey.

"Reluctantly, I accepted that. It was not the easiest thing to do, but I think it was the best thing to do in the circumstances at that point."

Harshest critic

Quinn added: "Roy, as he says himself, is his harshest critic. He just felt he had completed his journey here, and he just felt he didn't want to get it unstuck any further and find ourselves in deeper, darker territory.

"That's the measure of the guy. It's funny, in situations like this, I am sure nine times out of 10, the chairman is saying how the manager was trying to keep his job. It was the other way round.

"It's a disappointing day in many respects but, of course, we fully respect his decision.

"And of course, once he made his decision, I said to him, 'I know you too well, Roy, to try to overturn it now' once he went over that line."

Ferocious

Sky Sports News chief news reporter Bryan Swanson has been told that Keane's resignation came as no surprise to some of the Sunderland players.

Swanson says some players felt Keane showed them a lack of respect during a ferocious half-time team talk when they were losing against League One Northampton in the Carling Cup in September.

Sunderland went on to win the game on penalties.

Swanson has also been told the players respected Keane as a player but some of them believe he was too distant from them as a manager.