Signings of the times

Those who had played at the top level had all been in sides who had previously been relegated. Then, there was Chopra, whose only goal was against us from half a yard when we were the worst team in Premier League history.

The players Keane has picked up this summer - Malbranque, Chimbonda, Tainio, Diouf and so on - are undoubtedly better quality than what we had before.

And he doesn't appear to be stopping there, surprising everyone with Djibril Cisse and, to an extent, David Healy, then pledging two more will come. So, it appears he's aiming for quality and quantity!!

Nothing excites fans more than transfer activity but pre-Saturday, the main worry was would we be adding so many new faces, we would lose last season's spirit and would the new boys need time to gel together.

The performance and victory, of course crowned by a Cisse goal, appear to dispel that theory and, at least for the rest of this week, we are feeling excited about the season ahead. We appear to have, as Keane said, maintained out commitment but added at least a touch of class.

This time last year, much of the talk had been about us struggling to attract big names both to the area and to the club, with its yo-yo reputation.

As anticipated, staying up for a year tends to stop players viewing us as relegation dead-certs, making it easier to sign people.

But now, it even appears we have leap-frogged several otrher clubs in terms of being an attractive proposition. So, what are the reasons for this?

Firstly, word has no doubt got around that we are prepared to pay decent wages for once and that can't hurt.

But, Keane has always said he will not entertain any player he feels is only after the money. Similarly, the club has not done an MK Dons and moved geographically so proximity to Bond Street has not altered.

We can point to our facilities, stadium and fan base, all of which no doubt play a part, but surely the key factor these days is Keane himself.

Nigh on every player we have signed this year has talked about how impressed they have been with him. Clearly, when asked whether their new manger played a part in their decision, nobody is going to say no, so that's not a great surprise.

But, the stature of the man seems to be a huge pull-factor and something we have to thank Niall Quinn for. It was him, after all, who plucked Keane from nowhere and gave him his mangerial start, when others were looking at the likes of O'Neil and Allardyce as our next boss.

Ultimately, any player we sign now will have the upmost respect for Keane. Whatever he tells them to do on the pitch, they cannot claim he does not know what he's talking about because he's pretty much seen and done it all.

Even if we signed the world's greatest midfielder tomorrow, they would be taking from orders from a man who arugably held that accolade not too long ago himself, so who could argue?

Clubs need to give players a reason to sign for them. We will never be able to offer the bright lights of London or even the over-the-top salaries our neighbours up the road do (nor would we want to). We are unlikely to ever be seen as a fashionable club but what we can offer now is the so-called "Roy-volution," the chance to learn from one of the world's greats.

Who would have thought a player would turn down Roma and Man City for Sunderland but that's exactly what Djibril Cisse did. If Roy Keane wants to talk to you, you at least listen and where you hear what he's got to say, chances are you'll agree.

That's the theory and so far, it seems to be working.

Some of his signings have raised a few eye-brows and he admits to making mistakes in the past, having, again in his words "only been in the game two minutes."

But, touch wood, things seems to be heading in the right direction and long may it continue!!