Roy Keane is in the frame to fill the managerial vacancy at Sunderland. 

The League One club sacked Lee Johnson on Sunday, following a 6-0 defeat away to Bolton Wanderers that left them third in the table.

Sunderland are just two-points off the automatic promotions places, but the team above them - Wigan - have three games in hand on the Wearsiders.

Keane has become a professional pundit-for-hire since his drift away from full-time management.

The outspoken Corkman's last full-time gig in England saw him assist Martin O'Neill for a lacklustre five-month spell at Nottingham Forest in 2019. Their seventeen games in charge saw them win on just seven occasions.

But according to the Daily Mail, Keane could be offered a route back into management at the club where his coaching career began.

The 50-year old led Sunderland to promotion during his first season in charge (2006-07), winning the Championship by two-points from Birmingham.

Keane spent heavily in the summer of 2007, paying a British record fee for a goalkeeper for Craig Gordon, and buying the likes of Kenwyne Jones, Ian Harte, Andy Reid, Greg Halford and Michael Chopra.

Sunderland narrowly avoided relegation in 2008, and he resigned in December of that year. So unpopular was Keane by the end of his reign, that the players reportedly celebrated when news of his departure filtered through.

He joined Ipswich Town in April of 2019, but his only full season saw them finish 15th in the Championship. He left the following January with the club having flirted with relegation.

Assistant jobs have followed - first with O'Neill, and the Republic of Ireland - and then under Paul Lambert for a brief spell at Aston Villa.

But despite going eleven years without managing a team, Sunderland appear interested in at least talking to the former midfielder. It's reported he retains several supporters inside the halls of the Stadium of Light.

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