Keane quits as Sunderland manager

By Martyn Herman

LONDON (Reuters) - Roy Keane quit as Sunderland manager on Thursday just five days after a 4-1 home defeat against Bolton Wanderers prompted the Irishman to question his future at the Premier League club.

In a statement on its website the club said an amicable agreement had been reached with the 37-year-old Keane over his departure, two and a quarter years after taking charge.

Sunderland have slipped to 18th position in the Premier League after a slump in form.

Chairman Niall Quinn, who was instrumental in bringing Keane to the club, said he was disappointed that Keane had decided to leave and said he had spent three days trying to get him to change his mind.

"I've got huge respect for what he has done for this club, he lifted it off its knees," Quinn told reporters at a news conference at the Stadium of Light.

"I fully respect his decision. He is his harshest critic and he felt like he had completed his journey here and that maybe somebody could come in and kick it on.

"I know Roy and I knew it was too late to make him change his mind. I think we all know that the Premier League has not seen the last of him."

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