EAMON Dunphy has accused his one-time pal Roy Keane of "losing the plot" and stumbling around "in a fog".

The controversial pundit, who co-wrote Keane's autobiography, claimed the Sunderland football boss is not "cut out for management".

The scathing attack has come after the Black Cats' recent poor form, which has left them in the Premier League relegation zone.

It was his fiercest criticism yet of the man he once defended to the hilt. Dunphy said: "[Keane] is rambling about all sorts of things and it's really ridiculous. He is in serious danger of getting relegated but I think that Roy Keane is beginning to believe the Roy Keane mythology."

Staggering

He added: "It has been apparent to me for at least 18 months that he is not going to be a serious manager. If you look at the players he has bought and if you look at the transfers in and out, they are actually remarkable. They are staggering and he has wasted a lot of money.

"He doesn't appear to be cut out for management, like a lot of great players. He's a very intelligent man and he was a very great player.

"If you think of Bryan Robson and Bobby Charlton -- they were two great Manchester United players -- but they didn't make it in management."

Former Millwall player Dunphy said: "There is something in his public comments and the rambling nature of them. He is commenting on the Irish team manager's job -- he is commenting on other clubs. He is rambling and I think it is really ridiculous." Despite this, Dunphy claims to have "the highest regard for him as a person and a remarkable man in many ways". Keane (37) was famously booted out of Ireland's World Cup squad by Mick McCarthy in 2002. In the aftermath, Keane found a staunch ally in Dunphy.

Doomed

Not so any more. The RTE pundit reckons the whole Sunderland project is doomed.

"[Keane] hasn't had a settled side and I think he is probably in a fog. Everyone gets there at some point in their life, where things are just too much for you. You don't know where the levers of control are and it's all slipping away from you," Dunphy said.

- Cormac Murphy