'Bigger club down the road...' - Ex-Sunderland boss Roy Keane aims cheeky jibe at Newcastle United

Former Sunderland boss Roy Keane has taken a cheeky swipe at Newcastle United, claiming that the Black Cats are a “bigger club” than their North East rivals.

The fiery Irishman spent a little over two years in the dugout at the Stadium of Light between 2006 and 2008, guiding the club to promotion from the Championship, and then helping them to retain their Premier League status.

Since then, he has remained a popular figure with many supporters, and it would appear that he holds a mutual affection for Sunderland following his time on Wearside.

What has Roy Keane said about Sunderland and Newcastle United?

On the latest episode of The Overlap’s Stick to Football podcast, Keane and fellow pundits Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, Ian Wright, and Jill Scott welcomed former Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit as a guest, with the Dutchman reflecting on both his struggles at St. James’ Park and the Magpies’ recent Carabao Cup success.

He said: “The biggest problem that you also had was that not everybody wants to go there [to play in Newcastle]. You have to really get with a good plan in order to to go there. I think that the biggest success they had was when [Kevin] Keegan was coach there. They had the best team they had - didn't win it, but I think that now that they won a trophy I'm so happy for them.”

In response, Keane quipped: “There's a bigger club down the road in Sunderland, so that’s the problem.” Wearside-born former Black Cats midfielder Scott responded: “Yes, Roy!” before fist-bumping the Manchester United legend.

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Keane frequently speaks about his time at the Stadium of Light, and in a recent episode of Stick to Football, also reflected on his early experiences of managing Sunderland in the Premier League. He said: “My mindset when we were up at Sunderland... I’m thinking to start the Premier League, I was thinking we need a good start.

“My first week as manager of Sunderland in the Premier League, we had three games. We had Spurs at home, Birmingham away, Wigan away. We beat Spurs at home 1-0. [Michael] Chopra scores in injury time. So, we beat Spurs, it’s three points already when you think if you’d be looking to average a point a game. We’re up and running and we go to Birmingham and we score in the last minute to draw and get a point.

“Four points out of two games, I’m going, ‘It’s not too bad this Premier League, I’m not too sure what the fuss is about’. We go to Wigan on the Saturday, and I’m thinking, ‘Wigan... We beat Spurs, we draw with Birmingham...’ - Wigan I think beat us three or four nil, and it could’ve been ten. That was Wigan.”

He added: “You’re already on that rollercoaster of how tough it is. So for me, I think we’ve had a really great start, and we’ve only got four points after three games, so these teams [who get promoted], you have to get some sort of foothold in the Premier League.”

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