FIVE months after his second managerial job came to an end, former Sunderland manager Roy Keane has outlined plans to return to football and take a club to the "very top".

Keane, whose two-and-a-half years in charge at the Stadium of Light came to an end in late 2008, has been out of work since he was sacked by Ipswich Town in January.

The 39-year-old blames himself for certain mistakes during his time at Portman Road, but says he has learned from those and is ready to try all over again.

He looks back affectionately on his first two seasons at Sunderland, when he led them out of the Championship's bottom three and to promotion. He does, though, still have complaints about the way it ended.

The outspoken and often controversial former Manchester United captain chose not to go into great detail, but hinted that owner Ellis Short's involvement led to his departure.

"When accusations are made against you and you are told where to live or are accused of doing a one-day week, the time is right to go," said Keane.

"In terms of supporters, Sunderland fans were brilliant, but as usual, they don't know the whole truth and just believe the headlines and all that.

"Sometimes you feel you want the truth out there, but I have kept my mouth shut. But there was stuff going on in the background I certainly wasn't happy about."

After successfully turning around Sunderland's fortunes after being granted permission to invest millions in to the squad by the club's owners, the Drumaville Consortium, he hit troubled waters when the Black Cats were struggling at the wrong end of the Premier League.

"It was actually perfect, no interference, no nothing," said Keane, speaking on Irish radio. "That changed when the club was sold to Ellis Short and when you have one owner the dynamics of the football club changed.

"I was never comfortable. People might think I am a machine and don't get hurt, but I was hurt when I missed the World Cup, I was hurt when I left United. I could have stayed with my contract, but my pride had been hurt and I felt I had been disrespected in a big way and stuff that people will never know about."

Will Keane be back? He said: "I want a club to take to the very top, Sunderland was so close, even in my third season there, just a few poor results which every manager goes through."