SUNDERLAND begin their search for a manager today after Roy Keane confirmed his resignation yesterday by text message following 27 months in charge of the club.

Keane tendered his resignation on Saturday, following a 4-1 home defeat to Bolton.

Although chairman Niall Quinn spent the first half of this week trying to persuade him to reverse his decision, the parting of the ways was confirmed yesterday.

“The board has reluctantly accepted Roy’s decision,” said Quinn.

Former reserves boss Ricky Sbragia will take charge of the Black Cats for tomorrow’s game at Manchester United, but the club hope to appoint a permament manager in the next two weeks.

Former Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce is the bookmakers’ favourite for the post, but The Northern Echo understands Celtic boss Gordon Strachan will be sounded out to see if he is willing to swap Glasgow for Wearside.

Yesterday’s events mark a dramatic end to a whirlwind two years in which Keane has spent more than £75m to lift Sunderland from the Championship relegation zone to the Premier League.

The former Manchester United player was appointed in August 2006, and guided the club to the Championship title the following May.

He kept Sunderland in the Premier League last season, but with five defeats in six matches plunging the club into the bottom three, felt he had taken the Black Cats as far as he could. His departure was greeted with sadness and anger, with some supporters saying he has turned his back on Sunderland in their hour of need.

Keane walked out of the Republic of Ireland’s 2002 World Cup squad, but Quinn feels it would be wrong to brand the 37-year-old a quitter in the wake of his latest sudden exit.

He said: “He’s turned a region’s mindset here and how anybody could label him a quitter is beyond me.”

Keane, who spent yesterday at his home in Hale, near Manchester, has not returned to Wearside since Saturday.