Aiden McGeady feels Roy Keane’s appointment would give the Sunderland supporters a lift.
But Gabby Agbonlahor has warned the Black Cats that Keane’s man-management skills would be "zero out of 100".
Ex-Sunderland boss Keane is the League One club's top target for the vacant job, although other candidates will also be spoken to.
Former Ireland winger McGeady, 35, is still a Sunderland player and was a Celtic team-mate of Keane’s and played under him when he was Ireland No 2.
McGeady told Sky Sports: “I've seen the rumours of Roy Keane being interviewed for the job. I've played with Roy. I've known him for a long time.
"I played with him at Celtic and he was obviously my coach for the last five or six years when I was away with Ireland under Martin O'Neill.
"So I know him well. He's got a lot of fans and he's still held in high regard by the fans here. It's not my job to comment on speculation and whether he's the man for the job or not.
"I think that will be down to the board and the hierarchy at the club. But I think if he was to get the job, it gives the fans a big boost.”
But Agbonlahor feels Keane would be a terrible Sunderland appointment and savaged the Corkman on talkSPORT.
The pair clashed at Villa and Agbonlahor said today: “The problem with Roy Keane was that when he came to Aston Villa, he couldn’t understand that we weren’t as good as the players he played with.
“He couldn’t accept that we weren’t going to be as good as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and those players.
“Just his way of coaching, it wasn’t the right method for players nowadays, for players when he was at Aston Villa.
“Just the way he spoke to players. There were times when there were quite experienced players, people like Joe Cole, and he didn’t speak to them right.
“He spoke to them in a way that was disrespectful. His man management would be zero out of 100. It was that bad.”
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