Roy Keane Once Wagered £8000 In Training Against His Players And Won

Roy Keane's management skills have been questioned, as he looks to get the Sunderland job for a second time, and the man himself once revealed a bet in training that could have gone very wrong for him.

It's been nearly 11 years since Keane left management, having been sacked by Ipswich Town, and he's only had roles as an assistant manager since.

He could be returning to the Stadium of Light soon enough, following the sacking of Lee Johnson, and according to reports he's set for a second interview.

Appointing him isn't something that former Aston Villa forward Gabby Agbonlahor thinks is a good idea, based on his experiences of Keane's man management as assistant to Paul Lambert.

And the Irishman's own story, about a time he annoyed his new signing Craig Gordon, when he was the Black Cat's manager, might back up those claims but it also paints a picture of a manager willing to lose £8,000 over some banter.

Writing in his autobiography, the former Manchester United captain explained he went in goal in training, after being unhappy with Gordon's form, and offered money if anyone could beat him.

"I put the gloves on and I said that if they could get the ball past me I’d give them a thousand pounds each but, if they missed, they’d have to give me a hundred," the Sky Sports pundit wrote via the Daily Star.

"Eight or nine players lined up, and I knew that Craig and the other goalkeepers were pissed off with it. They didn’t even look at my goalkeeping skills.

"They just did their stretches. I tipped a few on to the bar, on to the post, and I kept a clean sheet. I won eight hundred quid off the players – I could have lost eight grand."

Keane celebrates a Sunderland goal. Image: PA Images

The Scottish goalkeeper's move to Wearside in 2007 for £9 million made him the most expensive goalkeeper in British football, a record that wouldn't be broken for another four years.

Things didn't start well for him and after Keane won £800 from his team he realised that the 'stunt' could have left his goalkeeper feeling annoyed.

"I’d embarrassed, and maybe belittled, the goalkeepers. I hadn’t meant to," the Irishman added in the book, also wanting to stress it was all just a bit of a joke.

"But I didn’t think the keeper should be beaten from 25 or 30 yards. I think I lost Craig for a few weeks, and maybe longer, because of that."

As well as claiming the 50-year-old didn't have the man management skills needed, Agbonlahor also revealed that Keane's departure from Villa was followed up with bizarre incident where the former assistant shouted at one player through an intercom.

Whether he's right for the job or not, it would be entertaining to see Keane back in the dugout, if only for a while.