Sunderland defender Danny Collins admits the atmosphere is a lot more "relaxed" after the departure of Roy Keane.
Keane walked out on Sunderland a fortnight ago after 100 games in charge and his first team coach Ricky Sbragia is now in temporary charge.
But with Sbragia in pole position to take the job full-time, with Dwight Yorke and Neil Bailey as his assistants, Collins has revealed the caretaker manager is much more approachable than Keane who was often seen as aloof by players.
"I'm not going to say anything bad about Roy Keane but maybe now he's gone, because the lads find Ricky a bit easier to communicate with, perhaps we've been able to relax a bit more in training and in and around the training ground.
"With the league position we're in, we need that. Ricky's good. He has a bit of crack with the lads and has lifted morale when it was needed.
"There are three or four lads in the changing room who are quite vocal and we've had a few meetings between ourselves to say a few things.
"We're putting that extra bit in training. In my personal opinion, when the gaffer (Keane) was here, lads put a bit more into training, but if he wasn't it was a bit more relaxed out there.
"Yorkie's is a bit of a character; has a laugh with the lads, but he's done his coaching badges and will be looking to go into that side of things in the next one or two years. I think it will work out well for him as well working alongside Ricky."