Keane the messiah as hope born again in Sunderland

New Sunderland soccer manager Roy Keane (L) arrives at the Stadium of Light, in Sunderland, northern-east England, 29 August 2006, on his first day in the job.

Walk over the Wearmouth Bridge towards the Stadium of Light, and wrought into the iron railing, you find the City of Sunderland coat of arms and, beneath it, the city motto: 'Nil Desperandum Auspice Deo': 'Don't Despair, Trust in God.'

It is an oddly miserable message, but then, in recent times, Sunderland fans have had all too many reasons to be miserable.

Relegated from the Premiership in 2003 after losing their final 15 games, they lost the first two games of the following season, before recovering to lose in the play-off semi-finals.

A year later they were promoted as champions. It was the ninth promotion of the club's history and, by some distance, the least gleeful.

Crowds remained low, and nobody expected anything other than immediate relegation.

It came with a new record low of 15 points. Sunderland could have combined the points from their last two Premiership seasons and still been relegated in both.

The chairman, Bob Murray, bore the brunt of the fans' anger, and stepped down to be replaced by Niall Quinn and a consortium of Irish businessmen.

New Sunderland soccer manager Roy Keane (R) addresses a press conference with Club Chairman Niall Quinn at the Stadium of Light, in Sunderland, in north-east England, 29 August 2006.

That rekindled a certain hope. Quinn is, after all, arguably Sunderland's greatest legend of recent times, not just for the 61 goals he scored in 168 league starts for the club, but because he used the money raised by his testimonial to fund a children's ward at the local hospital.

There were rumours of various big-name managers, but when the season started Quinn ended up appointing himself, "keeping the seat warm", he said, as he waited for the right candidate to become available.

As Sunderland lost their first four games of the season, it looked a disastrous move. Midfielder Arnau Riera arrived from Barcelona's B team, to great expectation, and was sent off three minutes into his first start, a League Cup defeat at Bury who, at the time, were 92nd of the 92 league clubs.

Things couldn't have got any worse, and they didn't.

Suddenly the former Manchester United midfielder Roy Keane was suggested as the new manager. Ridiculous, everyone said, for Keane had called Quinn a "Mary Poppins" after his attempt to broker a peace deal at the 2002 World Cup, when Keane stormed out of Ireland's training camp following a row with their then manager Mick McCarthy.

But Keane was in the stand as Sunderland met West Brom in the fifth league game. They won 2-0, and by the time they met Derby a fortnight later, he had been installed as manager.

Sunderland's captain Gary Breen is shown the red card by referee Chris Foy during their English Premiership football match at The City of Manchester Stadium, Manchester, England, 05 March 2006.

That game was typical of what was to follow. Sunderland were one down at half-time, but came back to win 2-1, after, it was widely assumed, a half-time rollicking.

Since then, Sunderland have 14 times improved their position in the second half of games, and only four times have points been dropped after the interval.

They have scored last-minute winners or equalisers against Hull, Derby and Stoke; late goals have become almost as common as they were when United did the treble in 1999.

Keane, in public at least, has kept his cool. In press conferences he has been straightforward, funny and charismatic, his authority obvious.

Three players who were late for the bus to an away game at Barnsley were left behind as Keane spoke darkly of "a lack of professionalism."

On the pitch, his side snap ferociously, pressing constantly. With seven matches to go, they lie third, three points behind leaders Derby, and a point behind Birmingham who have a game in hand. Had they not given the rest of the division a four-game start, they would already virtually be up.

Crucially, hope has been restored, and for that Quinn must take a large part of the credit.

Asked to delay the kick-off of the home match against Derby for television, he refused, on the grounds it was better for the club to keep things convenient for the fans and so ensure a large gate, evoking the spirit of 1931, when shipyards and mines closed early on a Wednesday afternoon to allow 75,118 to attend an FA Cup replay against the same opposition.

Sunderland football club manager Mick McCarthy looks up before kick off against Manchester City in Manchester, 05 March 2006. Mick McCarthy's three-year reign at Sunderland came to an end when the former Ireland manager was sacked by the club at the time anchored to the bottom of the English Premiership.

The shipyards and the mines have gone now, and there are further economic problems. The last two glass-blowing firms are to close with 790 jobs going, Fujitsu have shed 600 staff, Groves Cranes 670, Vaux Breweries 600.

"At this club, in this region, there is a moral responsibility," Quinn said recently. "The club is the biggest symbol of identity for Sunderland people.

"What I have to make sure is we strike a balance between being affordable and making sure we can compete."

At the moment, the balance is being struck. There were over 38,000 at Sunderland's last home game, while over 13,000 fans applied for 8,000 tickets for the trip to Barnsley.

This is that rarest of things on Wearside; a bubble of optimism. At the station, where the city crest is printed on the wall, somebody has taken a black marker to the motto. It now reads, 'Nil desperandum, auspice Keano.'