ROY Keane has taken another swipe at Sunderland, accusing Andy Reid of not being fit enough and the club of going back on its desire to instill a winning mentality at the Stadium of Light.

In the latest in a series of verbal volleys aimed at his former club, Keane, talking at a charity event, said that midfielder Reid, who he signed for £4m, did not deserve to be in the Republic of Ireland side and should be fitter.

And, reprising his accusation that Sunderland’s board began to meddle in team affairs towards the end of his tenure, he said that he resented being told players should come to training with “smiles on their faces” after he had worked to give the club a winning philosophy.

Keane’s relationship with the Black Cats has become increasingly acrimonious since his December departure, and his re-emergence in club management has seen him launch stinging attacks on Sunderland players, the board and the management.

Chairman Niall Quinn has thus far refused to hit back and there is no suggestion that he is willing to be embroiled in a public slanging match.

But behind the scenes there is an increasing weariness at Keane’s desire to rake over the ashes of his departure from Sunderland – and there will be fury at his outspoken attack against Reid.

The midfielder was recently praised by Quinn for “turning a corner” and has been a regular under Sbragia.

But Keane, who was fulsome in his praise of Reid after his performances helped Sunderland stay up last season, does not feel that his displays have

been good enough this term.

“Andy Reid doesn’t deserve to be in the Ireland squad at this moment in time, he’s not doing enough,” Keane said.

“That’s what I like about Trapattoni. He’s an experienced manager, he looks at the players who are in form and are playing week-in, week-out, not once every four weeks.

“I’m not saying Andy Reid does that, I’ve not seen all the Sunderland games.

“But I don’t think he has a lot to complain about – it’s not as if Ireland are having bad results.

“I think Reidy can be fitter. I find it hard to accept that players who are at a professional level saying that they could be fitter. You can give a player the benefit if he is not as talented, but surely you have got to be in the same ball park for fitness.

“And if we are talking about players at international level or professional level, then not being fit enough to last the 90 minutes is very, very sad.

“I’m not on about Reidy, I’m on about a lot of players.

“Look at players, the same ones seem to be taken off every week after 65 or 70 minutes. It looks bad for them.”

Keane, who is involved in a contractual dispute with Sunderland relating to bonus payments, has also hit back at suggestions that he was not accountable to the Drumaville Consortium or Ellis Short. “I used to go to board meetings, I came over a few times and met the Drumaville lads when they were worried about stuff,” he said.

“I have no problem with people asking me questions and explaining myself.

“The people who own the club – you are answerable to them.

“Don’t think for one minute that I never spoke to Niall or my chief executive.

“People have this impression that I did not have to answer to anybody. That’s rubbish.

“But people telling me what to do, when to be training, where I should be living, players coming in with smiles on their faces – that’s when there is trouble.

“The first day I was shown around Sunderland’s training ground I said ‘People have been taking the mick out of this club for far too long’.

“It was all ‘We want to be winners, we want to be driven’ and I tried to bring that to the club. Then, all of a sudden, I have been told we need players to come in with a smile on their face.

“I only ever smiled when I trained hard and I won. I worry for players when they smile when they lose.”