Keane says sorry

Roy Keane has revealed his arrival at Sunderland was preceded by apologies to Niall Quinn and Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.

The 35-year-old famously branded now Black Cats' chairman Quinn a "muppet" and a "coward" following his infamous bust-up with Ireland boss Mick McCarthy in Saipan, and was moved on by Ferguson after a clash with the fiery Scot.

Asked if he had apologised to Quinn, he replied: "Yes, without a doubt. That was in discussion when we first met up. If you are going to beat around the bush and say did I apologise for stuff like that, of course I did."

He added: "But that was irrelevant to what was going to happen here in terms of whether I was going to get the job or not.

"Listen, I have apologised to lots of people and I am sure I will have to a few more times."

Asked further if he had apologised to Ferguson, he said: "Yes. When you are a player, you are spoilt rotten. You come in, you look after yourself and that's it.

"But now, there's a bigger picture for me to look at. But what probably got me into the hassle at United, I was probably getting a coach's or a manager's head on me when really I should not have been.

"Really, when you are a player, you are a player, that's the bottom line.

"Sometimes I was looking at the bigger picture when I probably should not have been. Yes, it's going to be different, sure.

"It will be different as a manager. It will have to be different."