Roy Keane at Sunderland: Was His Demise Due to Lack of Self-Belief?

When Roy Keane arrived at Sunderland, the world press assembled because it was probably the biggest day for the club in the last 30 or 40 years.

After six defeats in seven matches, his tenure ended Thursday with a whimper. If you caught club chairman Niall Quinn's press conference, you will know I mean that literally.

As a Sunderland supporter, this day has seemed inevitable for a little while.

Keane's departure has brought with it a mixed bag of emotions—denial, then disappointment, followed by reflection.

I feel Roy has probably made the right decision for himself because in recent weeks the players seem to have lost their appetite for the fight. We have had some bad luck and rough decisions go against us.

Last season we seemed a harder team to beat, but recently when something goes against us we just seem to fall to pieces.

What does appear to be a reflection of the manager is the apparent lack of self-belief from the team. They have an inability to play to their potential and instead they seem to be playing with fear.

A team led by Roy Keane showing fear is very uncharacteristic, and I was surprised, to say the least. I felt he would dig in and try to get us out of it, but rumours of player unrest, boardroom struggle, and Keane's own self-doubt have rumbled on for weeks—Thursday was a culmination of that.

However, in the words of the man himself: ''We move on."

Who will be the next Sunderland manager, then? It seems the two main candidates are Sam Allardyce—long-ball merchant and former manager of Newcastle—and Alan ''we've been unlucky with injuries'' Curbishley.

Between the two, I would rather have Allardyce than the apologist Curbishley. It really is a "rock and a hard place" situation.

I wonder where we will be in six months time? If we go down, I think the football club will suffer more than when we were relegated with the record points totals—twice. If we stay up then we can kick on, but who will be at the helm if we do? I do not know and to be honest, I can't think of anyone who can come in and have the impact that Roy Keane has had on the club.

Whoever comes in needs to pick his best 11 every week and not pick his team based on training sessions—as has been suggested. That could mean the end for such players as club captain Dean Whitehead, Irish enigma Daryl Murphy, and former player of the year Danny Collins.

Even fan favourites like Nyron Nosworthy and Phil Bardsley could face the ax after a string of errors and poor performances in recent weeks.

Looking at the positives, though—and credit to Keane for this—players such as Djibril Cisse, Steed Malbranque, Anton Ferdinand, Kenwyne Jones, and Andy Reid will be at the disposal of the new Sunderland manager.

One thing is for certain: We need a huge clear-out in January with deadwood like Rade Prica, Russell Anderson, and Greg Halford still on the wage bill.

I feel Roy Keane can put his feet up tonight with a cup of green tea and a Time Out biscuit and feel satisfied with the job he did at the club. I do also think that in a few years time, he may be disappointed he walked away.

He could have been a legend at Sunderland, but now he is just a legend who happened to manage Sunderland.

It's been a roller coaster but it was always going to be that way. Thanks for everything, Roy.