Former Liverpool and Ireland midfielder Mark Lawrenson believes having a mentor figure would be of huge benefit to Roy Keane should he get the Sunderland manager job.
Keane is the favourite to fill the vacancy at the Stadium of Light, after Lee Johnson was sacked following a 6-0 defeat to Bolton last week.
This would be Keane’s second stint as the Black Cats boss - he previously managed the side between 2006 and 2008.
In that time, he earned promotion to the Premier League in 2007, staved off relegation the following season, before resigning in December 2008.
Asked about his interest in the role during ITV’s FA Cup coverage on Friday night, Keane said he would relish any opportunity to get back into management.
Lawrenson joined John Duggan on Football Saturday this week. He reckons that having a supportive voice by his side would be a big boost to the Corkman’s chances of success in his return to Wearside.
“I think if he does take the job, he would probably need with him now a father figure - someone who wouldn’t agree with him all the time and put things to him,” Lawrenson said.
“[He needs to] have somebody with him in the office as well when players come in.”
“You can’t brutalise players anymore - you’ve got to be very, very careful because they’ll go away and cry to their agents and stuff like that.”
“I would like to see somebody in there who has been there, seen it, done it, and gives him something else to think of at times.”
Keegan: "Roy needs someone who will be the yin to his yang”
When asked who might be best suited to filling this role, Lawrenson also had a specific person in mind.
“It’s a bit left-field, but Martin O’Neill,” Lawrenson said
“He can still be his own man, but Martin is a very, very clever guy, and he’s really good with people.”
“They’ve obviously got a really good relationship - it wouldn’t matter if it was flipped. Martin is not the type of person who would want to boot Roy out and take the job.”
G9FW9M New Sunderland manager Roy Keane with fans following a press conference at the Stadium of Light, Sunderland.Shane Keegan argued that Keane’s choice as his second-in-command is equally important. “I think the big thing would be who Roy would bring in as a coach,” the ex-Dundalk manager said.
“The guy who is #2 to Roy there would have to be the yin to his yang.”
“He needs to be on the training ground, to be the guy who players get their energy from and have their day-to-day communication with.”
“I think Roy needs to be a bit more sporadic in their communication with them.”
Keegan added that Keane has a lot of work to do to put to bed the notion that he has an antiquated view of football.
“The detractors of Roy would say that he was a bit outdated for the game the last time around, and that’s maybe where things fell down for him - that he wasn’t moving with the modern game.”
“We fast-forward however many years later, and those questions have been amplified.”
“I just think there would be value in him finding answers to these questions and proving us all wrong.”
“Not that I’m saying that he wouldn’t be a success, but there would certainly be question marks if he came in.”
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