Roy Keane is reportedly closing in on a return to management, with the former Manchester United midfielder linked with Sunderland.
According to a report in the Telegraph, United legend Keane has an offer on the table from Sunderland to become their new manager. Former Black Cats manager Lee Johnson was sacked on Sunday following their 6-0 defeat to Bolton Wanderers, despite sitting third in the League One table and just five points behind first-place Rotherham.
Should he take over at the Stadium of Light, it would be Keane's second spell as manager at Sunderland, having been in charge of the club between 2006 and 2008, where he helped the club clinch promotion to the Premier League in his first season.
But this got us thinking, just how good is Keane as a manager? And, how successful could he be as the manager of Manchester United?
To find out, we 'appointed' Keane as the new United manager on Football Manager 2022 to see how the Irish manager would do.
Roy Keane as Manchester United manager simulated
To set up this simulation, we simulated the 2021/22 season up until mid-November with United sitting on 17 points after 12 games, when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was eventually sacked.
We then appointed Roy Keane as United's new boss and ran an ongoing simulation, to see how Keane's managerial spell at Old Trafford would pan out.
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These are the results, and they are truly breathtaking.
Keane's first change? Moving to a bog-standard 4-4-2, with two fast wingers and two central strikers, with Marcus Rashford on the left and Jadon Sancho on the right.
Following the conclusion of the 2021/22 campaign, here's how Keane's best performing XI looked.
United best XI under Keane in 2021/22: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Maguire, Shaw; Sancho, Fernandes, Pogba, Rashford; Ronaldo, Cavani.
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Upfront, Keane rotated the likes of Edinson Cavani, Cristiano Ronaldo and Mason Greenwood.
In midfield, Paul Pogba, Scott McTominay and Bruno Fernandes played the majority of the games as a midfield two, with Fred completely frozen out.
And it worked.
Keane's best results included a 3-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, a 2-1 win at Anfield against Liverpool and a 2-1 home win against Chelsea.
Under Solskjaer, United won five of their opening 12 games, losing five, drawing two and winning four times. But under Keane, United would only lose once in the following 26 games, winning 22 times and drawing only four times.
United's stunning form under Keane saw them, against all odds, win their first Premier League title since 2012/13, with the Reds winning 84 points from 38 games, two points ahead of Man City and three points ahead of Liverpool, in what was a three-way title race.
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Chelsea's strong early season form faltered badly but Arsenal's form improved dramatically, with Mikel Arteta's side securing a top-four finish.
In the cup competitions, Keane's side didn't do anything spectacular, getting out of the Champions League group stages only to lose to Barcelona in the First Knockout Round, whilst United reached the FA Cup semi-final only to lose to Man City.
But despite this, you'd have to say that Keane's first season in charge at the club, after only taking over from Solskjaer in November, was a superb achievement.
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And it was just the start - with Keane going on to manage United for a further TWELVE years in our FM22 simulation.
Under Keane's management, United won 12 trophies in 12 years, winning the Premier League three times, in 2021/22, 2024/25 and in 2029/30.
He would go on to manage United for 688 matches in all competitions, with Keane winning 449 of them with a win ratio of 65%.
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Keane's United also won three Carabao Cups (2022/23, 2023/24, 2025/26), three Community Shields (2024/25, 2025/26, 2028/29), one FA Cup (2028/29) and one Europa League title (2027/28).
Keane's reign as United manager ran from November 2021 to November 2033, with Keane's lowest Premier League finishing position being third in both 2023/24 and 2025/26, followed by two consecutive fourth-place finishes in 2031/32 and 2032/33, which led to his sacking in November 2033.
United spent an astonishing £1.735 billion under Keane from 2021 to 2033, with Keane's most expensive signing and most expensive sale being the same player.
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The Reds spent £84 million on Ajax midfielder Ryan Gravenberch in the summer of 2024, only to sell the Dutchman to Barcelona for £119 million in July 2028.
Overall, Football Manager 2022 predicts that Roy Keane remains a very competent manager and could be a great appointment for Sunderland, judging by the results of this simulation!
Football Manager (FM) is the world’s leading football management simulation title. With more than 50 countries to manage in and a database of over 800,000 players and staff it offers an incredibly detailed and immersive experience.
In FM you make all of the key decisions, from signing (and selling) players through training, team selection and tactics as you take your team to the top of the footballing world while carving out your own philosophy and strengthening your club’s identity.
FM has grown to become more than just a game and has embedded itself in the football industry; the FM database is used by several clubs to help shape their recruitment strategies and thousands of professional footballers and backroom staff members are committed fans of the game.