Withdrawn and Isolated, Keane Quits Sunderland By Text Message

Roy Keane became so introspective and elusive during the closing period of his time in charge at Sunderland that often the only way Niall Quinn could contact him was by text message. It is understood that was how his resignation as manager was initially delivered to the chairman.

Quinn handled Keane's departure with typical class, generosity and dignity yesterday. "Everybody at the club has got a huge respect for Roy," said Quinn, who stressed that Keane's motives were primarily unselfish and that he had not demanded a pay-off. "He lifted this place off its knees," he added.

"Roy Keane hasn't been sacked because we've a bad team, he's resigning because we've a good team he feels he can't bring on any further. There's a big difference there. You hear the term amicable, that's actually the way it is here."

The chairman's polished outward demeanor camouflaged the fraught reality of the preceding few days when an increasingly withdrawn Keane oscillated between a determination to try to revive the fortunes of a side that had lost six of their seven previous games and a desire to quit. Quinn initially offered his manager space over the weekend to think things through and on Sunday traveled to Portugal to "clear" his own head. Keane failed to attend any of Sunderland's training sessions this week - a not uncommon occurrence - and, when Quinn returned to England on Wednesday, the pair failed to determine a viable way forward.

Although Sunderland's board hoped Keane would continue they were concerned that he had lost the support of a dressing room harboring constantly rotated players who seemed intimidated and alienated by their maverick and temperamental manager. Keane could or would not soften his stance, though, and yesterday morning informed Quinn he was not returning. His resignation was subsequently received in a formal fax sent by his solicitor, Michael Kennedy.

In an attendant statement Keane said: "I would like to thank my staff, players, Niall Quinn and, in particular, the fans for their support during my time at Sunderland and I would like to wish the club every success in the future."

It was not long before sources close to Sam Allardyce were making it plain that the former Bolton and Newcastle manager would welcome an invitation to manage the club he once played for and Phil Brown, a boyhood Sunderland supporter, was reiterating his commitment to Hull. David O'Leary, meanwhile, was among the early contenders while the former West Ham manager Alan Curbishley was prominent in bookmakers' lists.

The relationship between Keane and Quinn had often been hands off and conducted by text but gained further distance once Ellis Short, the Irish-American financier, became Sunderland's leading shareholder in September. When Short inquired why Keane had not signed a contract extension to replace the deal due to expire next June and questioned some of the manager's more eccentric and expensive buys, even the diplomatic chairman struggled to maintain harmony.

Six weeks ago things looked deceptively rosy when Sunderland beat Newcastle but already Keane was struggling to control two of his more controversial signings, Pascal Chimbonda and El Hadji Diouf. "It's a funny world," mused Quinn. "After the Newcastle game people were dancing in the streets." He refused to take his dismay at the team's subsequent slide into relegation trouble out on Keane.

"Roy is his harshest critic and he felt he'd completed his journey here," he explained. "We spent three days trying hard to find a solution but he didn't want to come unstuck any further and us find ourselves in deeper, darker territory."

Sunderland's chairman was adamant it had not been a selfish decision. "Typical Roy, all he wanted this morning was to make sure that the staff he brought in were looked after. He never once spoke about himself or a settlement." Quinn suggested that the stress of Premier League management had told on a deceptively fragile character: "Roy brought amazing standards to this club, his compelling nature changed mind-sets, he changed a region's mind-set. But the pressure is intense."

Ricky Sbragia, the head coach, will be in charge for the trip to Manchester United, aided by the reserve team coach Neil Bailey and the midfielder Dwight Yorke.