ROY KEANE has been lined up as the new manager of Sunderland.
Black Cats chairman Niall Quinn hopes to confirm the ex-Manchester United and Republic of Ireland captain’s appointment by the weekend.
Quinn said: “We’re in contact with someone we think would be perfect for the club. We want a winner, who will bring a winning mentality into the dressing room.
“The players must be scarred after the results they’ve had in the last few years. If you look at the games they’ve lost, it makes horrendous reading.
“So we have to bring in someone with a winning mentality who can lift things and let that flow into the Stadium of Light itself. The fans have to see evidence of a winning mentality returning. That’s what will spark the thing into life.”
Keane, 35, who won seven league titles and four FA Cups in 12 years at Old Trafford, has been out of the game since retiring as a player in May after a spell with Celtic.
Quinn, whose Drumaville consortium bought Sunderland for £10million this summer, has been searching desperately for a top-class manager.
He failed to lure Martin O’Neill, who chose Aston Villa, and Bolton’s Sam Allardyce.
After taking the managerial reins himself, Quinn has now turned to his old Republic of Ireland team-mate Keane.
