KEANE TO RETURN TO FOOTBALL

Roy Keane is expected to be named as Sunderland's manager within the next 48 hours, an appointment that will stun football fans on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Niall Quinn, Sunderland's chairman-manager, has been in regular contact with Keane for some time and they have a verbal agreement that the former Manchester United player will move to Wearside. But no contract has been signed and there is concern the deal could collapse. Last night's premature publicity is unlikely to have helped Quinn complete his task.

Quinn was in Dublin yesterday meeting the group of businessmen who backed his recent takeover of Sunderland. Those men, the Drumaville consortium, always had Keane in mind as their manager alongside alternatives such as Martin O'Neill and Sam Allardyce. Keane is believed to have been on holiday in Portugal and is due to travel to Ireland sometime in the next 24 hours. A clandestine meeting will be hard to arrange now.

Keane and Quinn, thought to have had a reunion brokered by their mutual agent, Michael Kennedy, earlier this year, following their spectacular and highly acrimonious fall-out at the 2002 World Cup, are understood to have spoken again at the beginning of this week.

After that 2-0 defeat an emotional Quinn said that was his immediate intention and that he was "70%" of the way to installing a "world-class manager". Quinn's phrase sparked debate in every football fan's head as to who the candidate could be. If Keane is appointed - and that cannot be taken for granted - the debate over Quinn's description will continue.

No one will contest Quinn's clarified words yesterday that the new man "is a leading figure in world football who will bring steel and a winning mentality to Sunderland". It is the word "manager" that will be contested. Keane has taken coaching badges and, having retired as a player in May following one abbreviated season with Celtic, wants to become a manager.

But he has not managed before and it was thought that he wanted to take his time before re-entering the professional game in England. Before last night's developments Quinn had defended his "world-class" description saying: "To me he is world-class, I stand by that - we, Sunderland, are close to getting a leading figure in world football and we will support him 100%."

Given Sunderland's plight, Keane will need that support and now has less than a week before the transfer window closes. Brian Kidd, Keane's coach at Manchester United, is rumoured to be part of Keane's backroom staff. Notoriously guarded - except in his scalding autobiography - Keane may not reveal his incentive but his mended relationship with Quinn is obviously a massive factor.

However, something has changed and with Quinn watching from the directors' box, Keane looks set to lead Sunderland in their next game - at home to West Bromwich Albion on Monday afternoon. West Brom, of course, are managed by Keane's former United colleague Bryan Robson.