sport news Sunderland: Roy Keane would've been box office, says Niall Quinn, but Alex Neil ... trends now

Niall Quinn reclines and ponders a sliding doors moment in yet another season of classic Sunderland drama.

Back in February, a certain Roy Keane looked set for a sensational return to the Stadium of Light dugout. It was a story that sent shockwaves reverberating through the club and the city.

Sunderland's situation was hardly dreadful when Lee Johnson was sacked after a humiliating 6-0 defeat at Bolton - they were third in League One, after all - but the expectation was always that the Black Cats would be purring towards promotion.

'Roy is box office and always has been,' says Quinn, who it's fair to say hasn't always seen eye-to-eye with his former Republic of Ireland team-mate despite being the chairman who brought him to Sunderland the first time round in 2006.

'But he's doing great at punditry. That might be a little easier than dealing with chairmen who maybe aren't giving him enough money and stuff.

'He was great for me, I will never say anything other than that. Great for the club, for the city, for the players.

'There was a lovely moment there in that whole era, a lovely period of time when Sunderland were proud. He didn't just turn the club around but the city around.

'He brought belief back into the air. Fans were again looking for a magic potion to get this thing back on track and perhaps didn't expect it to be this good under Alex Neil.'

Which jolts us back into reality. Keane didn't agree terms on a second stint at Sunderland in February and the club moved for Scottish manager Neil instead.

We'll never know if Keane, who returned Sunderland to the Premier League in 2007, would have taken them up again but Neil has steered the club to within 90 minutes of a Championship return after a purgatorial four years in the

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