In the last few hours it was announced that former Sunderland Manager, and former Nottingham Forest, Manchester United and Celtic midfielder, Roy Keane, is to be the new manager at Championship side Ipswich Town.
The appointment comes less than 24 hours after Jim Magilton was shown the door at Portman Road and the owner of the club, Marcus Evans, is sure that the appointment of Keane is what the club needs to gain promotion to the Premier League next season, after missing out on a playoff place this time around.
Evans said that "he (Keane) has extensive contacts in the game and is a proven winner."
Proven winner is certainly one way of describing the Irishmen, who, as a player, won 13 major honours during his time at Manchester United, and two further honours during his brief stint at Celtic.
His managerial record in the Championship, also, commands respect.
Sunderland, at the time of Keane's appointment, were second bottom of the Championship after losing four of their first five games of the season, but Keane managed to propell the Black Cat's to the Championship Title that season, his first in management.
Sunderland and Ipswich Town though are two contrasting teams. Sunderland are surrounded by massive sports teams and have a core following of fans that fill their 40,000 plus stadium every week.
Sunderland had also just come down from the Premier League the season before, so had a squad that was always going to challenge at Championship level, and with the parachute payments to boot.
Ipswich have been in the Championship now since they were relegated from the Premier League back in 2002, the parachute payments have dried up, but in the shape of their new owner Evans, they have a man who is willing to support his manager financially, if required.
Roy Keane's task, which is ulitmately to take Ipswich back into the Premier League, is far from a straight forward bet. Ipswich will certainly not be in the top two in the betting stakes next season when deciding who may go up.
In Ipswich though, Keane has a club that will back their manager financially, has a good infastructure and a decent set of players that the manager can work with. Having money to hand though hasnt always proved profitable under a Keane regime.
Before departing Sunderland this season, Keane had spent millions on players like Craig Gordon and Anton Ferdinand with little effect, and Queens Park Rangers are a proven case that money cant always buy you success in the Championship, although whats going on there is more a kin to a scene from the Italian version of Eastenders.
Keane will certainly galvanise the club and the players, and with the season yet to finish he also has the luxury of looking at his current crop of players before deciding who he wants to keep for next season, and with 15 players' contracts up for renewel at the end of the season it's not going to be too difficult to trim the squad if Keane feels the need to.
The appointment of Keane is a massive coup for Ipswich Town and there is no doubting his credentials as a manager, having taken Sunderland up to the Premier League and keeping them there, but with the Championship getting tougher by the season will Ipswich be able to wriggle their way into the Championship race, with the likes of West Brom, Middlesbrough (potentially) and Newcastle United (potentially) all fighting for their place back amongst the elite?
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