'Keane effect' has instant impact on Sunderland

Sunderland upped the ante for their new manager, Roy Keane, who watched from the stands as the team followed up five straight defeats with a 2-0 win over West Bromwich Albion.

There are an infinite number of ways to start an argument with Roy Keane but they always prove very difficult to end. As he appointed his old foe as the Sunderland manager yesterday, Niall Quinn, the club's new chairman, found an ingenious solution to that problem. Chairmen and managers row all the time, he explained, "we just got ours out the way over the last few years".

It was a good-natured end to a momentous day on Wearside and the 24,242 supporters who have survived the pain and humiliation wreaked upon this club over the last 15 months to turn up at the Stadium of Light yesterday may wish to count it as a new beginning. In the stands sat Keane, impassive and unwilling to accept the adulation heaped upon him, while on the pitch a team that had forgotten how to win football matches transformed itself to beat West Bromwich Albion.

This was, Quinn said, the "Keane effect". The man whom he had once opposed over the Republic of Ireland's monumental 2002 World Cup finals dispute had come to the rescue just by staring down from the stands with that unsettling, unyielding gaze of his.

"Roy has brought a buzz to the place," Quinn said, and the support left the Stadium of Light wondering if that was Keane's remote effect on the team, what would happen when he actually started to pick it?

For yesterday at least, Sunderland's support had to celebrate the idea of Keane as Sunderland manager, rather than Keane himself. They had no choice. There is no one less likely to present himself for the acclaim of a new club than the man who, as a rule, would not reciprocate the post-match applause of Manchester United's support even after more than a decade there. Keane sat huddled down a few rows back in the directors' box, far enough from the edge that he could not be spotted from the lower tiers and he was not to be lured out. Certainly not by the chants from the home support proclaiming him the leader of their club, and not even when Sunderland scored. He will have difficult days at the Stadium of Light, but, for a man who abhors acclaim before achievement, few more awkward than this.

When it comes to putting a public face on the rescue act being attempted at Sunderland, Quinn is your man for the smart asides and the warm handshakes. It did not go unnoticed that after half-time he swapped the directors' box for the dugout as the game turned Sunderland's way, although he will know better than to try that trick once the new man takes charge away at Derby County on 9 September.

Quinn's last announcement yesterday was that Keane had finally signed a three-year deal at Sunderland and appointed the Leicester City academy coach Tony Loughlan as his head coach. That is the first surprise of the Keane regime: Loughlan, 36, was a contemporary of Keane's at Nottingham Forest and remains a close friend.

Today Keane is formally introduced as the manager - his first public words since the infamous MUTV interview in which he criticised his Old Trafford team-mates was sealed in a safe by United nine months ago.

There will be more today, Quinn promised, of how he and Keane mended their relationship and how the most volatile, inspirational player of his generation was persuaded to launch his management career at the team now 23rd in the Championship. In the meantime, the Sunderland chairman offered just hints at this remarkable story, how Keane had effectively " interviewed us" - the new owners - for the job, how he is still " shaking his head" at the coup.

Keane had asked that he could sign the contract after the match because, Quinn explained, if he had officially been manager before kick-off he would have wanted to take complete control. Keane had already been introduced to the Sunderland squad and Quinn's description of that meeting conjured images of a military inspection, of "every player," he said, " standing an inch or two taller."

It will be intriguing to see how Keane presents himself today, a man whose entire career has been a battle with those he likes to call the " bluffers" - the hangers-on, the frauds, the grandstanders hogging the limelight and, yes, even the media. He will not be able to ignore the almighty blast of optimism that has blown through a club that have already lost five games this season and are out the Carling Cup. The simple devotion of the supporters he will be able to tolerate, the rest he might find more difficult.

He signed autographs and smiled when he had to, reminding everyone that he can be charming - much more so than four years ago when he was sent off at the Stadium of Light for an infamous elbow on Jason McAteer. Yet it is that aspect of his character that the fans will savour, the part of him that, Quinn admitted, might well make Sunderland's players "scared".

"His demands are big," he said, "the professionalism and the preparation will be lifted."

If Keane wanted an idea of what it takes to turn men like Grant Leadbitter and Nyron Nosworthy into players in his own image then he needed only to look down at Bryan Robson in the away dugout. Another former United captain whose Old Trafford reputation is comparable, Robson looked wracked by his West Bromwich Albion team's performance. "As a manager you don't enjoy watching your team play like that," Robson said. "Sunderland probably got a bit of a lift from the effect the news about Roy had on their fans. But Roy is his own man and he will make decisions his own way. I am sure he will be successful."

Management has inflicted as much pain on Robson as he endured in his brutal playing career and he is a reminder to Keane of what the job can take from even the best players. Quinn lionised Keane's "knowledge and desire", "such an impressive guy" and - after the start he has had - you could not deny the Sunderland chairman his moment. But you knew that for the man who matters, he starts his management career today from point zero.

Things to do: Keane's areas of concern at Sunderland

* GOALKEEPERS

Teenager Ben Alnwick has committed his long-term future to the club, but it could be a year or two before the 19-year-old fully cuts out the mistakes associated with youthful goalkeepers. The reserve keeper Darren Ward must fear for his future.

* DEFENDERS

In need of a major revamp. Kenny Cunningham's signing in the summer looked unwise and he has done little to dissuade his critics. Stephen Wright and Nyron Nosworthy have underachieved and Danny Collins has failed to adapt to a higher grade of football.

* MIDFIELDERS

Dean Whitehead and Liam Lawrence have proved themselves, and youngster Grant Leadbitter is showing signs of promise. Tommy Miller is likely to rejoin George Burley at Southampton and new £1.7m arrival Tobias Hysen remains unproven in this country.

* FORWARDS

Daryl Murphy has still to convince he can score goals regularly. Stephen Elliott is another yet to fulfil his potential. Jon Stead is likely to leave and Chris Brown's modest goal record suggests he is better suited to a lower grade of football.