It will come as no great surprise to anyone that, after collecting the Championship trophy at a low-key function in Sunderland yesterday, Roy Keane will be back at work this morning, meeting his employers to discuss his plans - and the budget available to implement them - for next season.

The Corkman didn't win universal acclaim as a great player in just one season and it will take a little longer than a year to establish himself as a truly great manager. What has been done is remarkable over the course of his first nine months in management and also generates enormous expectations with regard to his forthcoming first season as a Premiership boss. His comments a week or so back that the club would not simply target a fourth-from-bottom finish but rather "aim to compete" at the higher level are, of course, admirable if vague. On Wearside, though, there is a good deal more precision with much talk among the supporters of challenging for a place in the Champions League.

To compete at anything like that sort of level in his first season of top-flight management would be a tremendous achievement for the 35-year-old but he can, it seems, rely on Niall Quinn and the Drumaville consortium for substantial backing and that will count for a good deal.

There has been a good deal of speculation regarding the amount of money Keane will be handed to spend with a figure of £30 million generally accepted to be the minimum he can expect.

As important, however, in an era when players of the very highest calibre can often be signed for free or nominal figures because of their contractual situation, will be the amount set aside annually for wages and the length of contract Keane is in a position to offer established stars.

Immediately after Sunday's 5-0 win at Luton, Keane talked about the fact some of the players in the Sunderland dressingroom might "never play together again", unnecessary confirmation, even after he qualified the statement by pointing out Danny Simpson and Jonny Evans may have to return to Manchester United, that a considerable amount of rebuilding will be undertaken at the Stadium of Light.

Of the Irish, Kenny Cunningham is set to retire but there will be nervous waits for most of the others. Graham Kavanagh has the combination of attitude and ability that made him a logical target for Sunderland late last year but his age and fitness problems make him vulnerable while Stephen Elliott's inability to score during his last 13 outings also marks him out as a potential victim of the coming cull.

Neither Liam Miller nor David Connolly have exactly seized their chances to shine at the top level of the English game but Miller looks certain to get another opportunity while Keane may well feel he can get more out of a much travelled striker whose character he clearly respects. Anthony Stokes will, one presumes, still be seen as one with a potentially strong future while Daryl Murphy's impressive end to the campaign has attracted a good deal of praise from the manager.

If Evans and Simpson are both lost then the back four will need to be entirely reconstructed and others are certain to be deemed incapable of performing at the required level in the Premiership.

However, as many end up going, it will be interesting to see how Keane sets about recruiting their replacements.

Keane's reputation will certainly help to ensure that Sunderland's approaches are at least taken seriously but persuading players of a genuinely high calibre to go to such an unfashionable corner of England will not be easy. How Keane copes with those signings who fail to perform will also be worth watching. He will be dealing with characters who may be less in awe of him than the current squad and who may provide sterner tests of his man-management skills.

Inevitably, money will be a key factor and Sunderland's ability to compete will depend to a considerable extent on the willingness of its almost exclusively Irish owners to back the recruitment drive as the club's income remains modest by the standards of the competition to which Keane would like to see it compared.

Television income next year will be a minimum of £35 million, and perhaps £10 million more if the team does well, but everyone gets the base figure. Elsewhere, there is still a good deal of work to do. Quinn's work at engaging with supporters has been heroic but it's worth noting the club did not fill its 49,000-capacity stadium once this season.

That will change next time around and the seats will remain occupied as long as the team does well but ticket prices are much lower than in other areas of England while the recent short sponsorship deal with Boylesports is estimated to be worth up to £10 million over four years, less than clubs like Manchester United or Chelsea receive annually from their principal backers.

Still, there is a belief within the club that it can make an impact and the effort to do so will be watched with interest from this side of the Irish Sea. A Sunderland official recently played down reports regarding the numbers of Irish attending games but a steady trickle is still expected to become a significant flow over the months ahead.

But while only one of the pair might admit it just now, the first thing to be achieved, before any grand scenarios are considered, is 40 points and, at least, that fourth-from-bottom target that Keane expresses so much contempt for just now.