Is Roy Keane the right man for Sunderland?

Sunderland have fallen a mile since their glory days in the Premier League. The last time they participated in the English top-flight was back in the 2016/17 season. A season later they were relegated to League One. Since then, the club has been fighting for promotion but to no avail so far.

The last two campaigns have been the most disappointing, with the club finishing fourth in the regular season only failing to win the playoffs. This time around, the club once again showed its potential and quality and raced to the top of the leaderboard at Christmas. Since then, however, things have been rather dodgy.

What has befallen Sunderland in recent weeks

The Black Cats have won just two out of their last seven League One outings. This run of results has not only thrown them out of the automatic qualification places but put them in a battle to secure a playoff spot.

Sunderland's recent misery in the playoffs is another factor which is haunting the club faithful.

Their wretched run began early last month when Lincoln City pulled off an upset win at the Stadium of Light. Late goals from Chris Maguire pummeled the club to their first defeat in two months. However, things got worse when Accrington Stanley held them to a 1-1 draw despite going down to ten men.

The fragile mentality of the the Black Cats finally reached its tipping point when Bolton hammered a 6-0 onslaught at the Macron Stadium. The result forced the club to part ways with their manager Lee Johnson.

Where does Roy Keane fit in the picture

Following Johnson's dismissal, assistant manager Phil Jevons has been put in charge. However, Jevons' tenure did not go off well either as the club succumbed to a 2-1 defeat against bottom-ranked Doncaster Rovers.

Recent weeks of speculation have seen Roy Keane emerge as an outstanding candidate for the vacant managerial role.

Roy Keane formerly managed the club during a 3-year spell when he guided the team to promotion into the Premier League.

Despite Keane's sharp tongue and harsh management style, this is interestingly what Sunderland need to take that extra mile for promotion. There is no doubt that given the resources they have, the Black Cats have underperformed in recent years.

They are too strong a team to be playing in the English third tier and they need someone to reinvigorate the club's prospects with dynamism and sheer work.

Keane is the embodiment of that.

While Keane's management style may be criticized in some cases, it will certainly not be so in this case given the players' fragile mentality.