'Lack of respect' - Roy Keane goes in-depth on Ellis Short bust up and Sunderland contract talks

Ex-Black Cats boss Roy Keane has offered in-depth insight on his bust-up with former chairman Ellis Short.
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The former Manchester United legend took over as Sunderland manager with the club second bottom of the Championship in 2006.

The Republic of Ireland man then masterminded the Wearsiders’ promotion back to the Premier League as champions after an incredible run of form at the end of a memorable campaign.

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Keane managed to keep Sunderland – then owned Niall Quinn and the Drumaville consortium – in the top-flight the following season.

Roy Keane during his time at Sunderland.Roy Keane during his time at Sunderland.
Roy Keane during his time at Sunderland.

However, financial trouble hit, and Sunderland’s Irish backers sold the club to American tycoon Ellis Short in 2008 – and it was that move that signalled the end to Keane’s stint in the North East.

Keane, in the last year of his deal at the Stadium of Light, resigned and later cited differences with Short were was the main reason behind his departure.

"I got a bit impatient and I was in the last year of my contract and part of my mindset was that I needed to get a step up or another contract,” Keane told Gary Neville on The Overlap for Sky Sports.

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“I was in talks around a new contract but because we lost one or two matches towards the end of my time there I was reluctant to sign a new contract as if I was panicking. We lost a few matches and I didn’t want to seem like I was desperate by signing it.

“And then before you know it, I’d left. By my second season in the Premiership with Sunderland they were sold to Ellis Short and the dynamics changed. Results weren’t great but we were averaging a point a game.”

Asked what changed with Ellis Short’s purchase of the club, Keane said: “The respect, the way he used to speak to me, I didn’t like the way he used to speak to me. The tone of his voice.

“If people speak down to me or show me a lack of respect it does irritate me. He told me I needed to move up to the area and I was thinking that I’m 35/36, a married man, why should he be telling me with five kids where I should be living.”

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Asked if he could see Short’s point, Keane said: “Yeah of course I do but there’s a way of saying it. If someone speaks down to you. I shouldn’t be spoken down to. I should only be spoken down to by my dad.”

Keane then moved on to Ipswich Town but failed to emulate his success at Sunderland and was sacked as manager in 2011.

Since then, Keane has enjoyed assistant manager roles at the Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest, under former Sunderland boss Martin O'Neill, and at Aston Villa for a brief stint.

The 50-year-old is now most notable for his work as a straight-talking pundit for ITV and Sky Sports but has expressed a firm desire to one day return to football management.

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