ROY KEANE insists the changes are set to continue at Sunderland and he has not ruled out bringing in a director of football to lighten his workload.

After a week in which such a role has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons, Keane remains open-minded about the possibility of appointing someone in that position in the future.

Jose Mourinho's dramatic exit from Chelsea was followed by the news that director of football, Avram Grant, had succeeded him as manager.

There have been situations in the past - Tottenham and Portsmouth among them - where there has been a breakdown between two men filling such important roles.

But Keane, who is by no means ready to appoint someone in the short-term, has not been put off the idea by the developments.

"I wouldn't rule it out because the demands on the manager are huge," said the Irishman. "The demands on Alex Ferguson must be unbelievable, whether it be going to dinners, going to watch youth matches, going to watch players. I bet you it's the same with Chelsea.

"I wouldn't rule out something like that coming to Sunderland eventually. I'm very open-minded with stuff like that but it would have to be my choice. If someone came in it would have to be the person I wanted to come in as director of football."

Since accepting his managerial role 13 months ago Keane has adapted to the strains well but he has made no secret of the huge number of changes that have been made.

Whether those alterations have been at youth team level, in the first team or altering the decorations around the place, the former Manchester United captain has been thorough.

But Keane, hoping Nyron Nosworthy will have shaken off a knee problem for the visit of Blackburn on Saturday, claims there are still a number of things to be done before he will have completed his restructuring job at the Stadium of Light.

"I've been here a year and we're nowhere near. You go on about making changes - we've made loads but there'll be loads more," said Keane, who took charge of his 50th match as manager at Middlesbrough on Saturday.

"We look at the youth system all the time, the scouting... it's just getting the balance right of what you think the club might need.

"I'm happy with what's going on around me but it doesn't mean to say a minute passes when I don't think about what I can do to improve Sunderland.

"Things change very quickly in football. If you'd said to me six months ago, 'What do you think of this idea of a director of football?' I'd have said you were mad. But the longer I've been a manager the more I'm thinking you've got to have good people around you who are prepared to share the load."

Given Keane's huge drive to succeed, he would not have been willing to take on the manager's position if he felt he could not do things his way.

Paying tribute to chairman Niall Quinn and chief executive Peter Walker, the 36-year-old feels his relationship with his bosses is working well.

"I speak to them once every two or three weeks and that's enough," said Keane, who was given permission to spend £36m on players during the summer.

"Some people at other clubs say there's interference all the time. I know for a fact that would drive me crazy.

"People talk about communication problems but what was said to me when I first came was there would not be interference.

"It's very straightforward: I stick to the football side. I make the football decisions."

One decision that could crop in the next few weeks is whether to offload Graham Kavanagh on a full-time basis.

The Irishman has joined Sheffield Wednesday on loan until the end of October.