Republic of Ireland and Leeds legend John Giles was not surprised Roy Keane turned down the manager's job at Sunderland and believes the conditions need to be right to lure the Cork man back into management.
Speaking on Off The Ball, Giles said Keane had a 'good reputation' built up from previous roles as well as from his role as a pundit with Sky Sports and had the right to turn the Black Cats down if the conditions of management weren't to his liking.
Keane emerged as the red-hot favourite to land the role after the League one side sacked Lee Johnson following a 6-0 hammering against Bolton.
However, the former Manchester United captain walked away from talks after a resolution could not be reached for him to become the new manager.
And Giles believes he made a good call.
He said: "He’s in a very fortunate position now as an ex-player. I'd say he’s quite wealthy.
“So, he’s in a position where he can say: ‘thank you, but no thank you - I don’t want to do it under those conditions.’
“Now, most lads I know have to suck it up and take those conditions - and most of them, as I see, don’t make it, but they’ve no choice.
“Usually, for the manager position at Sunderland, there’s around eight to ten applicants for the job.”
“They have to suck it up and take it under the conditions and say: ‘I’ll make it work’ - especially in my day when lads needed the job desperately.
"90% of the job is getting the right players in to do what you think is right.
“What you need is the conditions where you are in charge of the playing situation, letting go of the players you don’t want and getting in the players that you do want.”
Giles also pointed to Keane's growing reputation as a pundit and the comparative lack of pressure it brings.
He continued: “Roy Keane’s been out of the [management] game for a long time. He has a good name for himself and a good reputation for himself on television.
“Management is a very, very difficult job - and that’s with having the right conditions!
“If he’s going in and they’re telling him he has a director of football here, and you’ll be doing this, that and the other - he’d be saying: ‘thank you very much but I don’t want to do it in those conditions.’
“‘I’ve got a very good job on television where I’m not responsible for results so… you can stick your job - nicely!’
“I think that’s what he’s done - and, in my opinion, quite rightly.”
Get the latest sports headlines straight to your inbox by signing up for free email alerts
