The current Ipswich Town boss was sacked by the Black Cats last season.
“Make no mistake, Roy Keane did a fantastic job here. They were, what, bottom of the Championship? He kept them up then got them up. That is some going. That is difficult, but he did it very successfully,” he told North East newspaper The Sunday Sun.
“To be fair to Roy, when he was here for a couple of years they were in the Championship, then getting out of it. It’s always difficult in your first year or so to try and attract the calibre of player you want to the club.
“I can understand his frustration. I don’t think it’s the football club. Unfortunately, it’s geographical. Plonk this football club in the middle of London and you’d have no problem. Up where we are, it’s difficult.
“Anybody who comes here and sees the facilities, the crowd and support, the stadium and the training ground we’ve got can only be impressed.
“Geographically is the big problem for most people. The one thing that’s easy to do is go and sign players. What you’ve got to try and do is try and improve them, and get better.”
