Soccer: While Niall Quinn continued to dance around the identity of the man Sunderland's board hopes will become the club's next manager when asked about the club's ongoing talks with Roy Keane yesterday, Alex Ferguson expressed some surprise at the speed with which his former skipper had decided to return to football.

Speaking at a press conference scheduled for yesterday morning in order to discuss preparations for Monday's Championship game against West Brom, Quinn inevitably faced a succession of questions about the imminent recruitment of his former international team-mate whose identity, slightly comically, he declined to confirm, presumably on the grounds that it might antagonise Keane.

"Negotiations are continuing with our would-be manager and his adviser," he told a particularly well-attended gathering. "They are nowhere near completed and when they get to the stage where a), either we have completed, or b), that person will not be coming, we'll tell you, not an unconnected third party."

This was presumably a reference to Sky Sports, a television channel Quinn himself worked for until taking over at the Stadium of Light, which stated on Wednesday night that Keane was to be the next manager.

He described the period since then as having been "crazy" but insisted the process was still on track and it was still possible that an appointment can be made early next week.

"There are no problems with the negotiations so far but it is a protracted, long drawn out affair and we haven't come to any crunch decision yet, so we'll see, we'll find out," he said.

Asked whether he would still be in charge for the West Brom game he replied, "We'll find out how the negotiations will go but I'm prepared for that and I'm preparing as if that will be the case at the moment.

"In the meantime," he added, "I've had a meeting with the players this morning and told them this is an opportunity for them either to be subdued or to show a country that has them down as chumps right now, to show everybody, regardless of who is sitting in the stand, what they are about."

At his regular pre-match press conference, meanwhile, Ferguson reacted to the speculation regarding Keane by observing that while he was surprised by the speed with which the issue had arisen he understood why his club's former skipper would be tempted by the offer.

"It's a bit earlier than I thought," he said, "but in some cases in football, tomorrow may never come. The opportunity is there to take the job and, if he is taking it, maybe that's uppermost in his mind. You don't want to be out of the game too long."

Despite their current difficulties, Ferguson suggested that Sunderland might be a good place for Keane to start.

"Sunderland are a great club with a great history, a fantastic support base and a good stadium. Everything is there and apparently they've got a fantastic training ground. They've got most of the things correct about them.

"It wouldn't be easy, though, I don't think being a manager is today, it doesn't matter where you are. The way football is structured in terms of the media, agents, freedom of contract and players' power nowadays, it's completely different."