Tobias Hysen has described Roy Keane as a 'tough, but fair' manager, admitting he found out quickly he wasn't good enough for Sunderland.
The former Sweden international joined the Black Cats in the summer of 2006 following relegation from the Premier League.
Signed by Niall Quinn, it quickly became Manchester United legend Keane who would manage the winger on Wearside, but he was soon out of favour, with Keane's own deadline day signing Ross Wallace often preferred on the left.
Hysen still managed to make 27 appearances for the Wearsiders before leaving to return home to Sweden after Sunderland secured the Championship title and their return to the Premier League.
Speaking about his career, the now 37-year-old ex-player told Sportbibeln : "He was tough but fair. If someone did not do what he expected, he could tell, he could be angry, but it wasn’t that he frothed at the mouth and threw things.
"We lost a game against Preston, and he said to some: 'You might as well have been sitting on the bench with me today, because you are not affecting anything. You are not in the match, you might as well sit next to me'.
"Often he was right, but it could be a bit tough ... we were all Championship players after all.
"I was one of the players who didn’t run around whining. I kept my head down and just ran, I didn’t want to argue with him. He said it as it was and would ask me, 'Don’t you wonder why you don’t play?'. Then I just said, 'No, I’m not good enough, but please come and say if it’s something I should practice'.
"Then there were matches where he complained about me, just as he did with everyone. But he was one of those players himself, who gave 100 per cent, and expected the same from us."
Despite a tough 12 months on Wearside, where he's previously admitted he and his partner also struggled to settle on Wearside, Hysen says he does not regret the move from Djurgardens IF. He left to go to IFK Goteborg where he would make 299 appearances over two spells.
He said: "Football-wise, it was all right. I got to play pretty much and we won the championship. It was really a fully approved season, but the whole thing feels like a failure because I went home right away.
"But I don’t regret doing it, if I hadn’t gone, I wouldn’t be part of it, and I learned a lot about myself as a person. And the fact that I went there led me to come to Blavitt [IFK Gothenburg]. All the decisions bring something with them and it was good for me."
Hysen retired in May 2018.
