Soon to be Keen on Keane?

Strong rumours in East Anglia last night suggested Roy Keane's days as manager of Ipswich were numbered raising the spectre of whether Burnley would be remotely interested in his services.

BBC Sport today understand he has already left the club.

There would be a slight irony in all this since if Burnley did go for Keane, the other East Anglian team of any note, Norwich City could sleep safe in their beds knowing that Paul Lambert would be staying put. Norwich only last night refused Burnley permission to speak to their manager.

Roy Keane had been in charge at Ipswich for just 20 months.

It has though been a torrid time for the former Manchester United player at Portman Road. Keane was responsible for the club's worst run in its history after he failed to secure victory in any of their first 14 league games last season and his team has also lost seven of their last nine games this season. The 1-0 defeat by Nottingham Forest last Monday left the club 19th in the Championship table just three points clear of the drop zone.

Ipswich invested £8m on players during Keane's reign with the money provided by multi-millionaire owner,Marcus Evans so you can see why they might not be so keen on Keane now.

Keane, now 39 did have some success this season though steering his side to the the Carling Cup semi-finals.

Keane of course started his managerial career at Sunderland signing a three year deal in August 2006 after the club had made a disastrous start to the 2006-7 season. They had lost four games on the bounce and were second from bottom in the Championship under club chairman and acting manager, Niall Quinn.

By the end of the season, Keane had remarkably turned the club's fortunes round and the Black Cats were promoted as Champions.

Sunderland struggled in the Premier League but managed to survive for another season under Keane.

They began to struggle again in 2008-9 and with Sunderland 18th in the Premier League with only one win in six games, Keane stood down as manager in December 2008.

In an interview with The Irish Times in February 2009, Keane cited differences with Sunderland shareholder Ellis Short and strains with club chairman Niall Quinn as the factors in his decision to resign as Sunderland manager.

In April 2009, Keane was appointed as the new manager of Ipswich Town on a two-year contract and the rest as they say is history.

So would Burnley be remotely interested in Roy Keane? He does seem to be trouble with a capital 'T' but his record at Sunderland does at least tend to suggest given the right environment, he could get a club promoted from the Championship and more importantly keep them up. Interesting development methinks

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