ROY Keane has claimed that he quit Sunderland because a promise not to meddle in team affairs was broken.

Keane took his first job since leaving the Black Cats yesterday, accepting the challenge of leading Championship side Ipswich Town into the Premier League. He has signed a two-year contract at Portman Road, where he will be joined by former Black Cats number two Tony Loughlin.

But while he maintains that he wishes nothing but the best for Sunderland, he is clearly still unhappy about the circumstances surrounding his Sunderland exit.

He says that the arrival of Ellis Short led to interference in team affairs – and that broke the bond of trust between him and the rest of the Black Cats’ board. Keane maintains that the club were on track to progress this season, and that his departure had nothing to do with results.

"One of the big conditions I had when I went to Sunderland was that there would be no interference with team affairs," Keane said.

"But, when someone tries to move the goalposts, it is nothing to do with contracts, it is about a promise with people at the club. I was disappointed because I had signed a three-year contract and the plan was on target, despite two or three poor results.

"Believe it or not, the results at the end had nothing to do with it.

"I am not going to go into it but I must have said it when I met Niall and the owners of the club about 5,000 times that I would do it my way, particularly in team affairs."