Roy Keane

[Drumcondra 69er]

Hard to call the lad a useless manager after what he achieved with Sunderland in fairness. As great and all it is he signing loads of Irish players, he really needs to expand his scouting network for the next managerial role he undertakes.

He achieved with Sunderland less then Brian Robson achieved at Middlesboro and that's his level. He had the biggest budget in the Championship that season which shouldn't be forgotten.

He's an awful manager and doesn't have the necessary skills for that to change, I'd no more want him near the Irish team that I wanted Robson back in 2003. I don't think it's in any way likely outside of the fevered imaginings of Paul Hyland in the Herald.....

[shakermaker1982]

Always sad to see an Irish manager get the sack. Like Elroy points out if he does get another job then he needs to set up a scouting network so he doesn't have to rely on Irish players and get himself a number 2.

He'll take another break and will be back. What else is he gonna do?

[Fixer82]

I don't think he's a useless manager but probably dived in too soon to a big club when he should've coached, been a no.2 at a bigger club. He's learnt the hard way.
He seems to rule with an iron fist also which can't always be the way when dealing with different personalities.
He seemed to instill good discipline and regimes at Ipswich but just could not inspire the players to perform for him. Possibly due to them being too afraid to make a mistake on the pitch...

[legendz]

I'm a McCarthy fan but I will wish Roy Keane all the best. It's true he did have a big budget at Sunderland but I'll give credit where it's due, he still did a good job in winning promotion. Clubs have been known to have had big budgets and still not gain promotion.
Mick McCarthy had a poor season with Millwall. Mick also made his mistakes with Ireland. This is a similar timescale to the lenght of time Keane's been in management already. Roy kept Sunderland in the Premier in their first season back and also led the club to a win over Newcastle. It's only after this that the wheels seem to have came off. Things clearly have not worked out at Ipswich. He was putting out the same excuses as he did at Sunderland that players would not move to the club due to location.
I think Roy's next job will go a long way to define his career as a manager. His stock will still be decent in the Championship. He's had two jobs, there's no excuse for inexperience any more. It'll be interesting to see how he gets on. I'm sure he will bounce back. Gillingham could do with him as manager! They have not done great since the days they were mid-table in the Championship.

[Fixer82]

What are the odds El Trap will go to be replaced by R. Keano?

I would say zero to one

[pineapple stu]

Doesn't that mean it's a dead cert? (In the sense that 0/1 has any real odds meaning)

[geysir]

25/1 actually.
Just listening to rte's Tony ODonahue's cringeworthy exalted praise of the messiah. Nothing more blind than a langer's blind praise of another langer.

[Drumcondra 69er]

25/1 actually.
Just listening to rte's Tony ODonahue's cringeworthy exalted praise of the messiah. Nothing more blind than a langer's blind praise of another langer.

It's like listening to members of a cult....

[Noelys Guitar]

Never unearthed a proper goalscorer for Ipswich. And any game I saw Ipswich in they played a hell of a lot of long ball stuff. Wonder when he'll be back and in what division/country. I have a feeling he might move to somewhere like Dubai/Australia or even North America for his next job. And yes that T'OD piece was horrible and had really nothing to do with football or more specifically football management.

[John83]

It's like listening to members of a cult....
Like?

[Drumcondra 69er]

25/1 actually.
Just listening to rte's Tony ODonahue's cringeworthy exalted praise of the messiah. Nothing more blind than a langer's blind praise of another langer.

Jesus, just listened online, that is a shocking piece of broadcast journalism, dreadful stuff altogether. Going on about the money in the game with no mention of how much was spent at both Sunderland and Ipswich, amazing....

http://www.rte.ie/news/news1pm/player.html?20110107,2881806,2881807,flash,257

[geysir]

You posted the link? I wouldn't encourage people to listen to it, it carries a sick bucket health warning

[SwanVsDalton]

I'm prepared to give Tony O' the benefit of the doubt as I'm convinced he's been possessed by the reincarnated soul of Triggs the dog.

[Drumcondra 69er]

Some proper analysis of the situation on the last word at the moment.

[Spudulika]

The sad fact is the man has many issues, many of which he has dealt with, but in the same way as one compulsion/addiction is replaced with another, he threw himself into management but his paranoia took over. This praise of his saying "I can only work with what I have and if I'm not good enough I'll accept the consequences" are a disgusting reflection on the man. He routinely took shots at the owner by saying how he didn't have the players, he took shots at players for not coming to Ipswich (same as he did in Sunderland) and worst of all this acceptance of his failing is a way to ensure the club paid him up for getting rid of him. How often does a manager walk of his own free will when he's patently unable to do his job? How many bad workmen blame their tools? How many managers use the excuse that the players they wanted went off to glitzier surrounds? Until he faces that fact that players with any standing and experience in the game won't play for a bully, that his own poor decisions cost his team points and his lack of ability to trust others meant he hadn't a rounded view of the game, then he will continue drifting down the leagues. I would really hope he goes abroad to learn his trade, as an assistant somewhere. Or even take up a National coaching job in a 3rd tier nation to build up his experience and self-confidence.

[irishfan86]

Don't think it's the lack of self-confidence that's dragging him down Spud!

[seanfhear]

Did Keane have the same coaching assistants as he had at Sunderland ?

If he did it was obvious that "team Keane" was not producing the goods at Sunderland and that he needed to change it.

He did not sign players that were better than what he had already and he did not seem to have any particular style/system of play.

One good year from five (approx)does not a good manager make.

[irishfan86]

Did Keane have the same coaching assistants as he had at Sunderland ?

If he did it was obvious that "team Keane" was not producing the goods at Sunderland and that he needed to change it.

He did not sign players that were better than what he had already and he did not seem to have any particular style/system of play.

One good year from five (approx)does not a good manager make.

First season: Got Sunderland to the Prem, winning the Championship.
Second season: Kept Sunderland up.
Third season: Resigned at Sunderland during relegation dogfight/led Ipswich to mid-table Championship finish (they were in relegation zone when he took over).
Fourth season: Made no progress with Ipswich in the league but brought them to the Carling Cup semi finals.

I would suggest that his first two seasons would be considered successful by any standard. I think it was a mistake to walk away from the Sunderland job in the first place, and at Ipswich I think he's basically spun the tires and gone nowhere.

I'll give him two good years, one bad year, and one passable year. If I were Ipswich's owner I wouldn't sack a manager who brought me to a cup semi final...but I think the owner feels he has spent too much money for his team to be flirting with relegation in the second tier.

[Sullivinho]

I think Roy needs to reassess his Sergeant Hartman approach to management.

[Colbert Report]

Never unearthed a proper goalscorer for Ipswich. And any game I saw Ipswich in they played a hell of a lot of long ball stuff. Wonder when he'll be back and in what division/country. I have a feeling he might move to somewhere like Dubai/Australia or even North America for his next job. And yes that T'OD piece was horrible and had really nothing to do with football or more specifically football management.

I'd love to see him come to the MLS, can't see it ever happening though. MLS players make on average very little money and most of them only do it on a part time basis. The MLS defender of the year retired at age 23 because he couldn't make enough money, this was back in 2006 or something. I can't see Roy's "total preparedness" going down too well with a bunch of guys that are makin twenty grand a year.

[irishfan86]

I'd love to see him come to the MLS, can't see it ever happening though. MLS players make on average very little money and most of them only do it on a part time basis. The MLS defender of the year retired at age 23 because he couldn't make enough money, this was back in 2006 or something. I can't see Roy's "total preparedness" going down too well with a bunch of guys that are makin twenty grand a year.

The MLS is a full-time league. Players do not generally have other jobs. Under the league rules, a player must be paid a minimum of $40,000 a year. The average salary for MLS players was $138,169 last season.

Source, New York Times soccer blog (using stats from MLS Players Union):

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/players-union-releases-2010-m-l-s-salaries/

[corkharps]

He's a crap manager. He's not a very nice person.He walked out on his homeland. But we are still talking about him in as if we are almost afraid of meeting him after giving out about him......

[EastTerracer]

First season: Got Sunderland to the Prem, winning the Championship.
Second season: Kept Sunderland up.
Third season: Resigned at Sunderland during relegation dogfight/led Ipswich to mid-table Championship finish (they were in relegation zone when he took over).
Fourth season: Made no progress with Ipswich in the league but brought them to the Carling Cup semi finals.

Ipswich were 9th in the Championship when Keane took over but there were only a couple of games left in the season (Jim Magilton was sacked for not making the play-offs that season). They finished 9th at the end of that season.

You might be thinking of Sunderland who were in the relegation zone (although after only six games) when Keane took over there in 2006.

[Colbert Report]

The MLS is a full-time league. Players do not generally have other jobs. Under the league rules, a player must be paid a minimum of $40,000 a year. The average salary for MLS players was $138,169 last season.

Source, New York Times soccer blog (using stats from MLS Players Union):

http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/22/players-union-releases-2010-m-l-s-salaries/

Take out the designated player exemption for each player and the average salary is nowhere near 139k. 40k is not full time, not in the USA. I make twice that as a construction worker. MLS is part-time.

[Spudulika]

Don't think it's the lack of self-confidence that's dragging him down Spud!

Okay, I should clarify that. It might not be the classical elements that we'd see as self-confidence, but as a seriously damaged person, with more chips than Macari's, he's in a constant battle to prove others wrong, and that he is right. So in this sense he doesn't really believe he's good enough because he's so afraid of failure. He doesn't have the innate self-confidence to accept that life goes on, and when you hear somebody saying "why don't they just get over it" it's actually a comment on his own psyche. Yesterday on the way home I listened to his rant post-Paris, and it was unsettling and upsetting in equal measure. He's a person who pushed himself to the limit and beyond without actually appreciating what he'd done, and the whole time his paranoid instincts meant he was waiting for it all to be robbed from him. However he's been guided well in this instance, he made sure he'd gotten a good payoff by not doing the decent thing and walking away from a no win job, because to do that would not only lose him money, it would show to himself and others that he wasn't capable of winning, which would shatter the little glass cage he's built around himself.

[Predator]

I think Roy needs to reassess his Sergeant Hartman approach to management.Never!
He should have been given the boot a few games ago.

[SkStu]

MLS is part-time.

No its not. Do you understand the concepts of part time or full-time work? Someones earnings dont determine what someones employment status is. The MLS is a full-time, professional league. Player signed to the MLS make their living from playing in the MLS irrespective of how much they are paid.

[Scram]

Hard to call the lad a useless manager after what he achieved with Sunderland in fairness. As great and all it is he signing loads of Irish players, he really needs to expand his scouting network for the next managerial role he undertakes.

He spent the Championship equivalent of what Chelsea spent in the Premiership. an amount not nearly matched by any Championship side. He hasn't had that luxury at Ipswich and also managed to alienate good players he did have. A terrrible man manager with delusions of greatness choosing to pontificate on everything it seems except his own club and his failings.

After his comments wondering if "anyone would be stupid enough to give Mick McCarty a job" and "I hope I don't come across as bitter and twisted but that man can rot in hell for all I care", I am amazed that any club owner considered him for a managerial position to begin with.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Good Riddance to bad rubbish.


Even more reason for Mick to keep the Wovles up.

There's only one person RMK has ever been interested in. And that's himself.

[legendz]

The only reason for Mick to keep Wolves up is to save his own job. I'm a McCarthy fan but if Wolves aren't seen to be moving forward, he'll be under pressure himself. They've had good results of late against Liverpool and Chelsea. They'll need to keep on that upward curve and avoid defeats to lower opposition.

[Drumcondra 69er]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/maybe-he-failed-to-prepare-2489412.html

Had to laugh at the below quotes in particular!

"Yet the cult of Roy Keane is a hardy one. And perhaps that's because it is rooted not in the undeniably wonderful things he did on the pitch but in that Saipan tantrum, an act of petulance elevated by his apologists into a noble gesture.

Why does the myth have such legs that it will likely survive the latest proof that Roy Keane is in no position to scoff from on high at the shortcomings of other managers and players? Perhaps because Saipan was one of the emblematic incidents of the Celtic Tiger era. It struck a chord with people who liked to talk about pushing the envelope while going the extra mile and thinking outside the box going forward. The ******* in every office who vacillates between putting down 'I don't suffer fools gladly' and 'perfectionism' when asked to name a weakness idolised Keane as he worshipped the likes of Seanie FitzPatrick when they talked about the size of their balls and their hatred of the old 'ah sure it'll do' attitude.'"

"If there was a NAMA for football managers, Roy Keane would be in it."



Maybe he failed to prepare

Had a couple of results been different last week, it would have been Mick McCarthy rather than his old nemesis Roy Keane who got sacked.

And we all know what would have happened then, don't we? Keane would have been out of the traps like a greyhound after a hare to dance on McCarthy's grave. There'd have been a few digs at the Wolves boss and perhaps the statement that Mick had proved he'd always be a failure.

Keane's surprisingly durable corps of camp followers would have greeted these comments with the usual pseudo-sombre prose they reserve for relaying statements from the Mayfield Prophet, the kind of stuff which ends, "Mick wasn't good enough. Roy saw that. In Saipan. So he did."

But it's Mick who has survived and Roy who's bitten the dust. After walking out on Ireland, being slung out of Old Trafford and fleeing from Sunderland, his sacking by Ipswich is the latest in a series of ignominious departures. This one, though, is different. Even Keane can't pretend that his time at Portman Road has been anything other than the most unmitigated of failures.

In the past there has always been a scapegoat to hide behind. With Ireland, the FAI was to blame. Manchester United were at fault because The Great Man's team-mates failed to live up to his uniquely high standards. Even at Sunderland, where he hastily jumped before he was pushed, Keane peddled the line that what really upset him was not the team's poor form but the relationship between club chairman Niall Quinn and owner Ellis Short. This time round, however, it will be more difficult to create a smokescreen.

Or perhaps not. Because, increasingly, Roy Keane makes me think of the great American investigative journalist Jack Anderson's comment, in relation to General Douglas MacArthur, that anyone can glory in a triumph but it takes real talent to portray a defeat as a victory. We will no doubt be hearing about how his latest departure reflects the shortcomings of the club rather than the manager.

The truth is that Ipswich Town will do better once Roy Keane is gone. That's what happened at Sunderland where Steve Bruce has proven able to ignore potential problems in the boardroom and steered the club into the top six. And at Manchester United who, since Keane got the tar for his rant about a lack of competitive spirit among his team-mates, have won the Champions League and three Premier League titles with players he criticised, Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher, playing key roles. The rights and wrongs of those cases have, you would think, been proved pretty conclusively by now. Come to think of it, Ireland played a lot better without Keane in the 2002 World Cup than they did when he returned to the team under Brian Kerr. Things improve when Keane moves on.

Yet we're sure to be treated this week to more blather about how Keane's latest failure has resulted from the inability of his players to display the kind of competitive spirit which their manager alone possesses. We might even get a little sermon about how this kind of footballer is not to be found anymore in the pampered contemporary era. But that will be just Premium Grade A Bull****. The 18 managers whose teams sit above Ipswich in the Championship table were able to find players who could do the job well enough.

For that matter, the notion of Keane as the ne plus ultra of determination makes no sense when you look at his old team-mates Ryan Giggs, two years younger than Keane, and Paul Scholes, three years younger, still excelling at the top six years after their old comrade called time on his Old Trafford career. That Giggs and Scholes have never felt the need to mouth about the supposed shortcomings of their team-mates does not render them any less ferocious as competitors. It is this ability to avoid unnecessary distractions which has enabled them to survive for so long at United.

Keane, on the other hand, has sought distraction with the single-minded intensity of an alcoholic seeking an early house. Because what is most striking about his ubiquitous media contributions is not just how mean they've been but how gratuitous. Was there any need for all those swipes at John Delaney and the FAI? Any purpose in sneering about Liam Brady's role with Giovanni Trapattoni? Did he really need to slag off Shay Given and the Irish team after their loss to France? Or rub it in to the English players after their World Cup debacle? Especially when he had enough footballing problems of his own to keep him busy.

The irony is that, despite his purported disdain for the media, Keane in recent times had become a younger version of those old windbag pros, the likes of Alan Mullery and Rodney Marsh, who function as quote factories for journalists short of something to fill out a page. He was a tabloid columnist without a column, a bullying curate eager to read people from the altar while remaining utterly ignorant of the beam in his own eye. Ipswich fans can be excused for detecting a lamentable lack of focus from the man they'd welcomed with open arms and high hopes.

Yet the cult of Roy Keane is a hardy one. And perhaps that's because it is rooted not in the undeniably wonderful things he did on the pitch but in that Saipan tantrum, an act of petulance elevated by his apologists into a noble gesture.

Why does the myth have such legs that it will likely survive the latest proof that Roy Keane is in no position to scoff from on high at the shortcomings of other managers and players? Perhaps because Saipan was one of the emblematic incidents of the Celtic Tiger era. It struck a chord with people who liked to talk about pushing the envelope while going the extra mile and thinking outside the box going forward. The ******* in every office who vacillates between putting down 'I don't suffer fools gladly' and 'perfectionism' when asked to name a weakness idolised Keane as he worshipped the likes of Seanie FitzPatrick when they talked about the size of their balls and their hatred of the old 'ah sure it'll do' attitude.'

In the end, just as Seanie and the boys did more damage than any 'ah sure it'll do' merchant could ever have done, Roy Keane proved to be a lesser manager than Mick McCarthy. That his managerial reputation plummeted in sync with the Tiger seems oddly fitting. A man who thought, or affected to think, that anything other than a World Cup victory for Ireland was a failure ended up struggling to keep his team out of the Championship relegation zone. If there was a NAMA for football managers, he'd be in it.

Then again, maybe he just failed to prepare.

[Lionel Ritchie]

It's an unkind if not unfair assessment. I thought the comparison with Scholes and Giggs was a bit low. Keane is apparently carrying long term injuries that are going to result in hip replacements at an improbably young age.

I'm sorry it didn't work out foir him because he has a similar Buy Irish policy to the one I operate when playing FIFA on the PS. Unfortunately he appears to other things to a similar standard as I do on the PS as well.

[legendz]

If McCarthy had gone before Keane he'd have been the front runner to take over at Ipswich and clean up Keane's mess there.

[seanfhear]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/maybe-he-failed-to-prepare-2489412.html

Had to laugh at the below quotes in particular!

.
Was there some dejá-vu all over again in that there post.

[Colbert Report]

No its not. Do you understand the concepts of part time or full-time work? Someones earnings dont determine what someones employment status is. The MLS is a full-time, professional league. Player signed to the MLS make their living from playing in the MLS irrespective of how much they are paid.

No they don't. Full-time means that you are paid enough money to not have to do another job. For example, Henry Burris is a full-time player in a part-time league. Most CFL players have second jobs, I know this because I have worked with lots of them here in Calgary. Only the top players in the CFL like the marquee skill positions are full-time. Nik Lewis, one of the best WRs in the game, gets paid 80k a year, I know that because it it public information. That's why he also works at my gym as a personal trainer.

The MLS is no different. Sure, David Beckham and Thierry Henry are full-time players, but if you think most of their team-mates don't have second, sometimes higher-paying jobs, then you're kidding yourself.

[theworm2345]

No they don't. Full-time means that you are paid enough money to not have to do another job. For example, Henry Burris is a full-time player in a part-time league. Most CFL players have second jobs, I know this because I have worked with lots of them here in Calgary. Only the top players in the CFL like the marquee skill positions are full-time. Nik Lewis, one of the best WRs in the game, gets paid 80k a year, I know that because it it public information. That's why he also works at my gym as a personal trainer.

The MLS is no different. Sure, David Beckham and Thierry Henry are full-time players, but if you think most of their team-mates don't have second, sometimes higher-paying jobs, then you're kidding yourself.
Never though I'd see the day (former Bears quarterback and I believe Grey Cup MVP) Henry Burris got a mention on foot.ie

[Drumcondra 69er]

Was there some dejá-vu all over again in that there post.

Or in that there career.......

[Charlie Darwin]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/maybe-he-failed-to-prepare-2489412.html

Had to laugh at the below quotes in particular!

"Yet the cult of Roy Keane is a hardy one. And perhaps that's because it is rooted not in the undeniably wonderful things he did on the pitch but in that Saipan tantrum, an act of petulance elevated by his apologists into a noble gesture.

Why does the myth have such legs that it will likely survive the latest proof that Roy Keane is in no position to scoff from on high at the shortcomings of other managers and players? Perhaps because Saipan was one of the emblematic incidents of the Celtic Tiger era. It struck a chord with people who liked to talk about pushing the envelope while going the extra mile and thinking outside the box going forward. The ******* in every office who vacillates between putting down 'I don't suffer fools gladly' and 'perfectionism' when asked to name a weakness idolised Keane as he worshipped the likes of Seanie FitzPatrick when they talked about the size of their balls and their hatred of the old 'ah sure it'll do' attitude.'"

"If there was a NAMA for football managers, Roy Keane would be in it."
It's never a good thing when journalists try to compare incidents in sports to the Celtic Tiger/economy/politics in general.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Good to see Eamonn 'Grumpy' also indulging in hypocrisy over his former star pupil. Amnesia is clearly an issue also.

[rebelmusic]

I think it's unfair to say Keane would have thrown a few digs at McCarthy if he was let go. Ipswich got thrashed today 7-0 anyway so it will be interesting to see how a new manager fairs.

[Scram]

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/maybe-he-failed-to-prepare-2489412.html

Had to laugh at the below quotes in particular!

"Yet the cult of Roy Keane is a hardy one. And perhaps that's because it is rooted not in the undeniably wonderful things he did on the pitch but in that Saipan tantrum, an act of petulance elevated by his apologists into a noble gesture.

Why does the myth have such legs that it will likely survive the latest proof that Roy Keane is in no position to scoff from on high at the shortcomings of other managers and players? Perhaps because Saipan was one of the emblematic incidents of the Celtic Tiger era. It struck a chord with people who liked to talk about pushing the envelope while going the extra mile and thinking outside the box going forward. The ******* in every office who vacillates between putting down 'I don't suffer fools gladly' and 'perfectionism' when asked to name a weakness idolised Keane as he worshipped the likes of Seanie FitzPatrick when they talked about the size of their balls and their hatred of the old 'ah sure it'll do' attitude.'"

"If there was a NAMA for football managers, Roy Keane would be in it."



Maybe he failed to prepare

Had a couple of results been different last week, it would have been Mick McCarthy rather than his old nemesis Roy Keane who got sacked.

And we all know what would have happened then, don't we? Keane would have been out of the traps like a greyhound after a hare to dance on McCarthy's grave. There'd have been a few digs at the Wolves boss and perhaps the statement that Mick had proved he'd always be a failure.

Keane's surprisingly durable corps of camp followers would have greeted these comments with the usual pseudo-sombre prose they reserve for relaying statements from the Mayfield Prophet, the kind of stuff which ends, "Mick wasn't good enough. Roy saw that. In Saipan. So he did."

But it's Mick who has survived and Roy who's bitten the dust. After walking out on Ireland, being slung out of Old Trafford and fleeing from Sunderland, his sacking by Ipswich is the latest in a series of ignominious departures. This one, though, is different. Even Keane can't pretend that his time at Portman Road has been anything other than the most unmitigated of failures.

In the past there has always been a scapegoat to hide behind. With Ireland, the FAI was to blame. Manchester United were at fault because The Great Man's team-mates failed to live up to his uniquely high standards. Even at Sunderland, where he hastily jumped before he was pushed, Keane peddled the line that what really upset him was not the team's poor form but the relationship between club chairman Niall Quinn and owner Ellis Short. This time round, however, it will be more difficult to create a smokescreen.

Or perhaps not. Because, increasingly, Roy Keane makes me think of the great American investigative journalist Jack Anderson's comment, in relation to General Douglas MacArthur, that anyone can glory in a triumph but it takes real talent to portray a defeat as a victory. We will no doubt be hearing about how his latest departure reflects the shortcomings of the club rather than the manager.

The truth is that Ipswich Town will do better once Roy Keane is gone. That's what happened at Sunderland where Steve Bruce has proven able to ignore potential problems in the boardroom and steered the club into the top six. And at Manchester United who, since Keane got the tar for his rant about a lack of competitive spirit among his team-mates, have won the Champions League and three Premier League titles with players he criticised, Rio Ferdinand and Darren Fletcher, playing key roles. The rights and wrongs of those cases have, you would think, been proved pretty conclusively by now. Come to think of it, Ireland played a lot better without Keane in the 2002 World Cup than they did when he returned to the team under Brian Kerr. Things improve when Keane moves on.

Yet we're sure to be treated this week to more blather about how Keane's latest failure has resulted from the inability of his players to display the kind of competitive spirit which their manager alone possesses. We might even get a little sermon about how this kind of footballer is not to be found anymore in the pampered contemporary era. But that will be just Premium Grade A Bull****. The 18 managers whose teams sit above Ipswich in the Championship table were able to find players who could do the job well enough.

For that matter, the notion of Keane as the ne plus ultra of determination makes no sense when you look at his old team-mates Ryan Giggs, two years younger than Keane, and Paul Scholes, three years younger, still excelling at the top six years after their old comrade called time on his Old Trafford career. That Giggs and Scholes have never felt the need to mouth about the supposed shortcomings of their team-mates does not render them any less ferocious as competitors. It is this ability to avoid unnecessary distractions which has enabled them to survive for so long at United.

Keane, on the other hand, has sought distraction with the single-minded intensity of an alcoholic seeking an early house. Because what is most striking about his ubiquitous media contributions is not just how mean they've been but how gratuitous. Was there any need for all those swipes at John Delaney and the FAI? Any purpose in sneering about Liam Brady's role with Giovanni Trapattoni? Did he really need to slag off Shay Given and the Irish team after their loss to France? Or rub it in to the English players after their World Cup debacle? Especially when he had enough footballing problems of his own to keep him busy.

The irony is that, despite his purported disdain for the media, Keane in recent times had become a younger version of those old windbag pros, the likes of Alan Mullery and Rodney Marsh, who function as quote factories for journalists short of something to fill out a page. He was a tabloid columnist without a column, a bullying curate eager to read people from the altar while remaining utterly ignorant of the beam in his own eye. Ipswich fans can be excused for detecting a lamentable lack of focus from the man they'd welcomed with open arms and high hopes.

Yet the cult of Roy Keane is a hardy one. And perhaps that's because it is rooted not in the undeniably wonderful things he did on the pitch but in that Saipan tantrum, an act of petulance elevated by his apologists into a noble gesture.

Why does the myth have such legs that it will likely survive the latest proof that Roy Keane is in no position to scoff from on high at the shortcomings of other managers and players? Perhaps because Saipan was one of the emblematic incidents of the Celtic Tiger era. It struck a chord with people who liked to talk about pushing the envelope while going the extra mile and thinking outside the box going forward. The ******* in every office who vacillates between putting down 'I don't suffer fools gladly' and 'perfectionism' when asked to name a weakness idolised Keane as he worshipped the likes of Seanie FitzPatrick when they talked about the size of their balls and their hatred of the old 'ah sure it'll do' attitude.'

In the end, just as Seanie and the boys did more damage than any 'ah sure it'll do' merchant could ever have done, Roy Keane proved to be a lesser manager than Mick McCarthy. That his managerial reputation plummeted in sync with the Tiger seems oddly fitting. A man who thought, or affected to think, that anything other than a World Cup victory for Ireland was a failure ended up struggling to keep his team out of the Championship relegation zone. If there was a NAMA for football managers, he'd be in it.

Then again, maybe he just failed to prepare.

That's very good DC69 but I have to say that I 100% agree with Keane in his assessment of the "sure it'll do" Irish attitude. I can't fault his ambition but the problem is he keeps tripping up over his own ego and his inability to let go of bitterness.

[geysir]

That's very good DC69 but I have to say that I 100% agree with Keane in his assessment of the "sure it'll do" Irish attitude. I can't fault his ambition but the problem is he keeps tripping up over his own ego and his inability to let go of bitterness.
Keane certainly tripped over his choices of 'sure any old Irish player will do' attitude.
How come he couldn't get decent loan players like Cunningham or Andy Reid?
Why did he have such low "sure it'll do" standards?
It's easy for Keane to be sarcastic about the 'sure it'll do' attitude but the problem is when he doesn't value or even recognise sincere effort and is caustically dismissive of such efforts when they fall short of the goal. Never mind his wall of denial/excuses he offers for his shortcomings. That's what we call hypocrisy.
Under Keane's own criteria (not that I agree with), he is a muppet of the highest order whose own criticism should be taken with a dose of epsom salts.
Surely Scram, you are not one of the
" ******* in every office who vacillates between putting down 'I don't suffer fools gladly' and 'perfectionism' when asked to name a weakness idolised Keane as he worshipped the likes of Seanie FitzPatrick when they talked about the size of their balls and their hatred of the old 'ah sure it'll do' attitude." :)

[theworm2345]

Here is an article with a slightly different tone (both of them need to be taken with a grain of salt, I think)
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/keane-star-appeal-suggests-he-will-not-be-idle-for-long-2490157.html

[Bluebeard]

A grain the size of Muntanya de Sal (http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/Muntanya-de-Sal---Cardona/_dHcEaVlbphzgGEzFzhP0EbP9ZaZ_QJGaE_iZCXWk594).

[Lionel Ritchie]

Here is an article with a slightly different tone (both of them need to be taken with a grain of salt, I think)
http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/keane-star-appeal-suggests-he-will-not-be-idle-for-long-2490157.html

Any idea who actually wrote that? They must be Irish based. There's a delusion in there about just how obsessed the UK media are with him (Keane). Their Irish editions for sure bang on about him but their UK parent editions don't give a fraction of the coverage. As the previous article alluded -he's seen ala Holloway as a good source for a mouthy quip on a slow day -scarcely more. Holloway's funnier though and often more inciteful.

[SkStu]

Any idea who actually wrote that? They must be Irish based. There's a delusion in there about just how obsessed the UK media are with him (Keane). Their Irish editions for sure bang on about him but their UK parent editions don't give a fraction of the coverage. As the previous article alluded -he's seen ala Holloway as a good source for a mouthy quip on a slow day -scarcely more. Holloway's funnier though and often more inciteful.

nicely played. :)

[Noelys Guitar]

Any idea who actually wrote that? They must be Irish based. There's a delusion in there about just how obsessed the UK media are with him (Keane). Their Irish editions for sure bang on about him but their UK parent editions don't give a fraction of the coverage. As the previous article alluded -he's seen ala Holloway as a good source for a mouthy quip on a slow day -scarcely more. Holloway's funnier though and often more inciteful.

Holloway is also a better manager.

[Charlie Darwin]

Of course he is - he's had ten years more experience, most of which was relatively undistinguished until his recent successes. Learning through failure and all that.

[theworm2345]

Any idea who actually wrote that? They must be Irish based. There's a delusion in there about just how obsessed the UK media are with him (Keane). Their Irish editions for sure bang on about him but their UK parent editions don't give a fraction of the coverage. As the previous article alluded -he's seen ala Holloway as a good source for a mouthy quip on a slow day -scarcely more. Holloway's funnier though and often more inciteful.
Generally when I think Independent and delusional I think Dion Fanning, though I can't be sure.

[Metrostars]

No they don't. Full-time means that you are paid enough money to not have to do another job. For example, Henry Burris is a full-time player in a part-time league. Most CFL players have second jobs, I know this because I have worked with lots of them here in Calgary. Only the top players in the CFL like the marquee skill positions are full-time. Nik Lewis, one of the best WRs in the game, gets paid 80k a year, I know that because it it public information. That's why he also works at my gym as a personal trainer.

The MLS is no different. Sure, David Beckham and Thierry Henry are full-time players, but if you think most of their team-mates don't have second, sometimes higher-paying jobs, then you're kidding yourself.

Incorrect. True there are some young lads who earn the bare minimum who have side jobs coaching youth teams etc but that's very few, maybe 3-4 per team at most.