Until now Ellis Short’s involvement at Sunderland has remained off the agenda. Sports Writer Andy Richardson examines his ever-increasing influence.,p> AS MOMENTOUS meetings go, Niall Quinn’s introduction to Ellis Short in a hospitality tent at the 2006 Ryder Cup was hardly on the scale of Livingstone meeting Stanley or even Lennon bumping into McCartney.

But the impact on Sunderland appears to have been significant, as the American’s investment helped fund Roy Keane’s summer recruitment drive that ultimately exposed fundamental flaws in the Corkman’s management abilities.

Quinn’s vision for the club persuaded the reclusive Short to add a football club to an investment portfolio that already included the Scottish Castle where Madonna married Guy Ritchie.

And the American’s injection of funds into Sunderland enabled Keane to attract players to the Stadium of Light with significant Premier League experience.

For once here was a Black Cats manager equipped with the type of financial muscle to cement the club as a topflight force.

And while Short is thought to employ a handsoff approach to the day-today running of the club, he can hardly have been impressed by Keane’s failure to gel his expensive purchases into a cohesive Premier League unit.

Is Keane’s decision to bail out the first real evidence of a power shift that’s taken place behind the scenes at Sunderland Football Club?

While chairman Quinn remains the amiable public face of the operation, Short, a Dallas-born multimillionaire will have kept a close eye on his investment and become increasingly concerned by the team’s slide toward relegation.

If Short was won over by Quinn’s passion and winning personality then Keane’s awesome reputation as a player will have meant less to the American who is likely to have been more focused on the balance sheet and results on the pitch.

Even a relative football rookie such as Short will have viewed Sunderland’s recent run of one win in seven games with concern.

Short’s commerciallyfocused sang froid would appear to be in stark contrast to that of the Drumaville Consortium who first bankrolled the Roy Keane revolution.

Many of the affiliation of property magnates and publicans who paid Bob Murray £10m for the club in 2006, regarded Keane as a hero and bought into collective dream that he would lead Sunderland to glory in the same way he’d done in a Manchester United and Rep. of Ireland shirt.

However, it would be simplistic to describe the original Drumaville group as a bunch of well-meaning amateurs; the consortium included some very successful and astute businessmen.

But Sunderland appear to be developing as a brand as evidenced by recent changes to the backroom staff, including a new chief executive, Steve Walton, and Chris Woerts to develop the club’s overseas markets.

Short’s involvement may have precipitated some of these changes.

What has certainly been remarkable has been his ability to maintain such a low profile in a footballobsessed age when even the length of Roy Keane’s beard makes national news.

Short shuns publicity, although he and his wife Eve briefly gained unwelcome attention last year when Mrs Short became embroiled in an argument with a couple walking their dogs on their Scottish estate.

Scotland’s right-to-roam legislation meant that the walkers were not breaking any law, and eventually the estate made an apology for the incident When news of his purchase of £30m of Sunderland shares leaked in September sources close to Short confirmed: “This is no Abramovich or Shinawatra.

He loves the club and he can see that there is a sustainable plan, but he is happy to stay below the radar.”

While Quinn remains the eloquent frontman, Short may be able to play the role of invisible investor. But Sunderland supporters are becoming understandably intrigued by the American’s influence over their club.

Following Keane’s sudden departure, interest in Short is likely to increase – whether he likes it or not.

Ellis Short: explained

ELLIS Short is an Irish-American who grew up in Independence, Missouri, and has been based in Dallas for the past ten years. He made his fortune in private equity and hedge-fund management.

Short helped found the hugely successful Lone Star in the mid- 1990s. Since 1995 Lone Star have established funds worth more than $13.3 billion and Short is considered so crucial to the operation that a key man clause allows investors to withdraw their funds without penalty if he leaves Lone Star. In 2003 he was involved in controversy when he masterminded the purchase of a 51 per cent stake the Korea Exchange Bank, for $1.5 billion.

The takeover drew the attention of the Korean authorities, and in 2006 the Seoul Central District Court issued arrest warrants for Short and Lone Star’s general counsel, Michael Thomson, over allegations of stock-market manipulation. Both denied the accusations and Lone Star were cleared of all allegations in June this year. In August Lone Star bought IKB Deutsche Industriebank AG, the first German bank to fall victim to the credit crisis, for an undisclosed sum.

Short’s most high-profile acquisition prior to investing in Sunderland was the £23m purchase of Skibo Castle, an exclusive Scottish retreat that includes a private members golf course and hosted Madonna’s wedding to Guy Ritchie. Short is understood to visit the castle regularly.