There are few who will know more about Roy Keane the manager than his former Ireland teammate Niall Quinn.
During Keane's tumultuous time with the Irish national team, Quinn was an almost-ever-present, with the pair travelling to the 2002 World Cup together.
Of course, Keane would never take to the field at that World Cup due to the events of Saipan, and the fallout that ensued made Quinn's decision to hire his ex-teammate as Sunderland manager four years later all the more remarkable.
12 April 2007; Roy Keane and Niall Quinn at a Sunderland FC Press Conference, Stadium of Light, Sunderland, England. Picture credit: Brian Lawless / SPORTSFILE
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Quinn became chairman and manager of the club in 2006 and, after four league defeats and a League Cup exit, he decided to entrust Keane with the manager's role. It would be a tremendous success, with Sunderland promoted to the Premier League at the end of that season.
Speaking to Ladbrokes this week, Quinn spoke about his experience working alongside Keane as a manager, as rumours link the former Ireland captain with a role as national team manager, should Stephen Kenny's expected departure as boss be confirmed after the current international window.
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Niall Quinn on Roy Keane and management
Niall Quinn exclusively told Ladbrokes Fanzone this week that he believes his ex-teammate will only return as the number one in a management deal, after assessing Keane's stint as an assistant manager to Martin O'Neill in the 2010s.
Keane worked under O'Neill as Ireland assistant between 2013 and 2018, and the pair had a six-month stint with Nottingham Forest after departing the national team role. Keane also worked for a short time as Paul Lambert's assistant at Aston Villa.
Quinn is of the belief, however, that Keane is more suited to being the man in charge, and he said that he believes Keane's next coaching job will be as a manager. He went on to say that Keane's best quality is his ability to give a lacklustre dressing room a "real good kick up the backside":
I've followed him as a number two, at Aston Villa, then with Martin, both internationally and at Nottingham Forest, but I think he's more of a number one, personally.
If he ever goes back into the dugout, I think it will be as number one, I know he's spoken about that in the past.
If anyone wants to find out what he did for us [Sunderland] and how good he was as a manager, they only have to pick up the phone to me. He was different class, in a dressing room that needed more than a wakening. It need a real good kick up the backside, and it needed players performing at a level they just hadn't been anywhere near in previous years, and Roy did that.
We didn't break the bank, either. We bought lots of players but we sold well. I'll always have huge credit for Roy.
The appointment of Roy Keane as manager at Sunderland in 2006 caused quite the stir, given the events of Saipan and the differing stances he and Quinn took on the issues at hand in 2002.
28 May 2001; Roy Keane and Niall Quinn watch on during a Republic of Ireland squad training session at AUL grounds in Clonshaugh, Dublin. Photo by David Maher/Sportsfile
But Quinn's admiration is evident for the job done by Keane in bringing Sunderland to the Premier League and keeping them there, and he says that Keane transformed the culture of the city, let alone the club.
Rumours abounded last year that Keane would return to the north east for a second stint as manager of the Black Cats, but Quinn believes that the right call was made by all in deciding against that:
I always remember Howard Kendall going back to Everton.
He had the most incredible record as a manager there, and everyone thought that when he returned, things would go back to as they were, and that the club would shoot straight back up the table and start winning things again. But that didn't happen, and then his star was less shiny, if you like.
That's happened at a number of clubs; very rarely do you enjoy success on two separate occasions as a manager for the same club - so maybe it was best for all parties that Roy didn't get the job in the end.
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