Newly appointed Roy Keane has made his intentions felt in the North East by bringing a wealth of talent to the Stadium of Light. The former Republic of Ireland and Manchester United midfielder appeared to continue the jobs for the boys theme by bringing in players that he as worked with previously at Celtic, Manchester United or the Republic of Ireland.

Ireland players David Connolly and Graham Kavanagh both joined from Wigan. Keane signed fellow Treble winner Dwight Yorke who had been playing his football pre-World Cup in Sydney Australia. Sunderland old boy Stanislav Varga and Scotland U-21 Ross Wallace both left Scottish Champions Glasgow Celtic to head to the north east, however Neil Lennon elected to stay at Parkhead after being reassured that the arrival of Thomas Gravesen would not force him out of the club.

As promised during his press conference Keane did call upon his old manager Sir Alex Ferguson for some help which came in the form of another Irishman, Liam Miller. The deal was not the ‘loan’ that Keane had mentioned but a free transfer which must be seen as coup for Sunderland.

The influx of Irishmen to the area could almost warrant a change of name to Sundireland.