TO SYMBOLISE a new era, Sunderland made a break from tradition at the beginning of the season, changing the music to which their team take the field before a match. Out went Ready To Go, which had not proved the most accurate of prophecies over the previous 12 months — unless followed by the word “down” — and in came U2’s Elevation. Belatedly, the club got some yesterday.

Uplift has been a rare commodity on Wearside, but the sight of Roy Keane, Sunderland’s new manager, in the directors’ box coincided with the side’s first victory of a desperate campaign. Elevation was the perfect motto for Keane’s presence — the complication and enervation can wait — although a disappointing attendance of 24,242 was not an intimation of untold enthusiasm.

Disillusioned by years of fractured dreams and recrimination, supporters may take some convincing to believe again, but with Niall Quinn reverting to his role as chairman, vision and ambition will not be lacking. Whether Keane is capable of reversing a long decline on the pitch is the great unknown, but in its own modest way, this represented a positive beginning.

After meeting Sunderland’s players on Sunday morning, Keane granted Quinn his elusive signature last night, agreeing a three-year contract with an annual salary of some £2 million. He will be formally introduced at a lunchtime press conference at the Stadium of Light today; his opening three matches in charge will be away to Derby County and Leeds United and at home to Leicester City.

With such a combustible character, predictions are futile, but Quinn does not allow the possibility that his decision could be mistaken. “You spend some time in his company; he interviewed us for the job,” he said. “He’s just such an impressive guy, whose football knowledge and his desire and passion to bring it to other people is probably what he’s thought about most in the last few years. We’re so fortunate to have got him.”

The man himself was giving little away. Arriving at the ground at 1.17pm to a chant of “Keano, Keano,” the 35-year-old glowered at proceedings from a few yards behind his new employer. When Dean Whitehead scored direct from a corner in the 33rd minute and Quinn leapt from his seat, Keane briefly clapped his hands. If he smiled, he did so without moving his lips.

It is not for Keane’s gaiety that Quinn has gambled his reputation, but a remorseless quest to achieve. Quinn has spoken of the fear that is now ingrained in his players’ psyche; Keane, who watched local rivals Middlesbrough last night, will not banish fear, but encourage it. Who, in the dressing-room, will dare let him down? “When Roy was introduced to the players, you could almost see them grow an inch or two taller,” Quinn said.

While he signed a few autographs, Keane demurred from accepting an ovation from supporters. “He felt that if he signed a contract on Sunday, he’d want to pick the team, take the team and change it around,” Quinn said. “The players had already been told who would be involved, so he said ‘OK, it’s your team, you sort it and we’ll do it after the game’.”

Quinn conceded he was “not sure yet” whether Brian Kidd would agree to uproot his family to become Keane’s assistant, but Tony Loughlan, who at present works with Leicester City’s academy and was a team-mate of Keane’s at Nottingham Forest, is set to be appointed first-team coach.

With only three days until the closure of the transfer window, there is limited scope for Keane to refashion his squad, although Quinn and his Drumaville consortium — which attended the game en masse — “will try and help Roy out with his recommendations. Thank God, after today, that’s his problem, but we’ll give him every support he needs.”

In a sense, the psychology is every bit as crucial as the practice. “In Roy, the club is in the best hands,” Quinn said. “I’m so pleased with the man we’ve managed to attract. People will feel good around Sunderland tonight for the first time in a long while. Roy is a world-class attraction and there are still people shaking their heads, wondering how we’ve pulled it off. I’m the same.”

The two men fell out dramatically in the aftermath of Keane’s withdrawal from the Ireland squad before the 2002 World Cup finals and their relationship will forever be a source of intrigue. “The only thing I would say is that all chairmen and managers row,” Quinn said. “We’ve just got ours out of the way over the last few years.”