Roy Keane walked away from Sunderland yesterday and football should not expect to see him back any time soon. You may as well try to gauge what is going through the mind of his celebrity mutt, Triggs, as the man himself, but those with an insight into the Irishman believe that he will take a long break from management whatever offers come his way in 2009.

A lengthy period for self-analysis may seem the last thing Keane needs given that beating himself up has been part of the problem. The thickening, shaggy beard was detected some weeks ago by experienced Keane-watchers as an obvious sign that “Roy was going through one of his darker phases”, when he becomes lost in introspection.

But time away will be useful if Keane uses it to recognise the mistakes he made at Sunderland — and acts on them, which is perhaps the bigger concern. Among them is the failure to recruit a No 2 with the clout to take him aside and tell him some home truths. Not an easy job when you are talking about a guy who used to intimidate Sir Alex Ferguson and whom none of his team-mates at Manchester United ever dared to confront, however great his misdemeanour and however much Keane provoked them with his own tirades.

Tony Loughlan, an old colleague from his days at Nottingham Forest, was Keane’s assistant on Wearside. Whatever his coaching abilities, would he have dared to tell Keane that he was acting erratically by dropping Anton Ferdinand on the basis of one mistake and one harmless television interview? Or asked the boss to think twice about some of his signings? Would anyone at Sunderland have wanted to advise Keane that his method of limiting his appearances on the training ground to the end of the week — something borrowed from Brian Clough, his mentor at Forest — served only to breed an intensity that undermined the team? Believing that Keane selected his starting XI on what he saw with his own eyes, players would tear into each other on a Thursday or Friday on the very days when they should have been scaling down their practice.

When the going got tough, Keane got going

Sunderland manager will forever be seen as having bottled it by walking away from Wearside, says Tony Cascarino

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BACKGROUND

• Analysis: George Caulkin

• Keane must change before Sunderland unravel

How Roy Keane has spent £80m at Sunderland

Kenwyne Jones and Anton Ferdinand have been hits, but Craig Gordon and Pascal Chimbonda less so. What do you think?

• Roy Keane should have kept his mouth shut over Sunderland future

• Roy Keane feels strain as he reaches his Sunderland century

• Roy Keane factfile

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• When the going got tough, Keane got going

Keane may not even have been aware that he was having this effect, but that in itself highlights the dangers of being as unapproachable and unknowable as the Irishman has been throughout his professional life. It can work for you as a player, less so as a manager. Clough may have loved to be a maverick but there was a methodology and, in his most successful years, a strong and trusted assistant in Peter Taylor. Even those who are closest to Keane do not presume to instruct him or tell him whether he is right or wrong. They try to cajole, knowing that he will make up his own mind.

On the question of whether he can learn, his decision to abandon his post on Wearside, despite the almost limitless offer of patience and understanding from his employers, reminds us that, at 37, his intense, brooding nature remains as much a part of him as his Cork accent.

A psychologist would also want to delve into the streak of self-destruction, often mistaken for “Roy being honest”. Regularly praised for his candour, in fact Keane’s outbursts against Mick McCarthy, in Saipan before the 2002 World Cup finals, and Carlos Queiroz, in Sir Alex Ferguson’s office in front of the entire Manchester United squad, were so outrageous that they must go down as wilful attempts to be thrown out.

It was the same trait that led Keane to pre-empt his departure in recent weeks. As the troubles mounted at Sunderland, he did not close down the debate, as other managers would have done. He asked more questions of himself, and his ability to turn things around, than his interrogators. He began to sound more down on himself than even the most disgruntled Sunderland fan.

His decision to walk away will allow him to spend more time with his family, who stayed in the North West during his 27-month spell at Sunderland. Keane admitted to isolation and unhappiness during his six months in Glasgow with Celtic and, although he spent as many nights in Cheshire as in his property in Durham, he will not have found it easy leading a split life.

There will be offers to return to management because he is such a towering figure in British football and his record at Sunderland is good enough to warrant further interest. But, even if the beard goes, we must guess that we will always get the same Roy Keane, so intense that he is probably unaware of the effect he has on those around him.

Managerial ups and downs

Aug 30, 2006: Given first managerial job by Sunderland with club next to bottom of the Championship.

Sept 9, 2006: Wins first game as Sunderland come from behind away to Derby County.

March 10, 2007: Leaves behind three players who are late for coach journey to match away to Barnsley.

April 29, 2007: Promotion assured in first season after third-placed Derby County lose away to Crystal Palace.

May 2, 2007: Rejects plan for civic reception and open-top bus parade to celebrate promotion, saying that only progress in the Premier League would represent real achievement.

Nov 24, 2007: A 7-1 defeat by Everton at Goodison Park leaves Sunderland in the relegation zone.

Feb 27, 2008: Puts Liam Miller, the midfield player, on the transfer list for supposed poor timekeeping.

April 26, 2008: Secures Premier League safety with 2-0 home win over Middlesbrough.

Nov 29, 2008: Hints he is considering future after 4-1 home defeat by Bolton Wanderers.

Dec 4, 2008: Resigns as manager with club eighteenth in Premier League.

Words by Bill Edgar