robbie_B
19/09/2010, 7:49 PM
News of the World
KEANO SHOULD KNOW ABOUT 'PUKE FOOTBALL'
I brought in vomit to prove I was really sick
WALTERS: Left Ipswich under a cloud
By Garry Doyle, 18/09/2010
JON WALTERS has every reason to be sick and tired of Roy Keane.
After a year in the Corkman's company, he went from being star pupil and Ipswich Town captain to club outcast.
Pigeon-holed as a troublemaker, when the opposite was the case, Walters' fall-out with Keane had shades of Saipan - only in reverse.
This time the hunted was the hunter. Keane, the accuser, reckoned his former Irish Under-21 international Walters was pulling a fast one in the hope of getting a move away from the club.
Instead, Walters was being a model pro, to the extent where he even took a picture of his VOMIT to prove he wasn't faking illness the night before a League Cup match at Exeter.
Walters said: "Roy annoyed me because he made me out to be a bad egg which is not what I am all about.
"What happened was this. At the start of pre-season, I was aware of interest from a couple of Premier League teams.
"So Roy pulled me into his office and said: 'How are you?' I said: 'My head's not the best but I'm okay.' We talked about things and I said if an offer is right for the club and yourself, I would like to take it.
"He was completely fine with me and said I could have a couple of weeks to think about it and if I still felt the same way then I could move on.
"But within two weeks, we spoke again. Nothing had changed. No realistic offers had come in. That was it. 'Fair enough,' I said. 'You know me. I am not going to be a bad egg around the place. I'll train, give everything and just get on with it. I am not the type of person who sulks.'
"And he agreed. So I carried on as normal, captained the side in the first game of the season against Middlesbrough and if there was any doubt I was messing about, you would have seen it during that match.
"But I gave 100 per cent. Then three days later, it all kicked off. We had Exeter away and all during the week everybody in my family had a vomiting bug. So I quarantined myself from the wife and kids to try and avoid it.
"But at 3am on the Tuesday morning I was throwing up. I even took a picture of my sick and sent it to the physio because I knew Roy wouldn't believe me, what with it being a cup tie, clubs being interested in me and all that sort of thing.
"So I got the physio and doctor to smell my breath the next morning just after I'd been sick again.
"The next day I trained, even though I'd been wiped out. Then I got a text on Thursday night saying 'have you seen the papers?'. Roy had a pop at me, basically saying certain players were throwing one in.
"A day later, he brought me into the office, said I was going to be playing but I didn't deserve to be captain because of my behaviour. Things got animated and he came out and told the papers my reaction was unbelievably overboard.
"But I still thought I would play even though I knew I wouldn't be captain."
Instead, he was dropped and then told his days at Ipswich were over.
Walters said: "Keane suggested I had my head turned by every Tom, Putz and Harry.
"But I hadn't moaned or told him I wanted to leave. I had trained well. It was disappointing it got made out that I had stamped my foot down when that simply wasn't the case."
If only Walters' issues with Irish managers started and ended with Keane.
Instead, he has a little history, having been the recipient of another piece of old-school behaviour from Don Givens, his former Irish Under-21 manager.
Having scored twice on his debut in a 2-0 away win in Switzerland, Walters never played for Ireland again, missing one game with injury, another with a tooth abscess and a third though mismanagement.
KEANE: Ipswich Town manager
Walters said: "It was the end of season. My team-mates were all away to Marbella on a booze-up to celebrate winning promotion.
"Rather than go there, I went to Lanzarote with my wife and was having a quiet one, going religiously to the gym every day.
"And then Don rang me. He must have got the international dialling tone because he asked where I was. I explained to him what I was doing and he said: 'It doesn't sound like you are committed to Ireland. I'm leaving you out.' I haven't heard from Ireland since."
Perhaps that will change under Giovanni Trapattoni, who has a habit of plucking guys from the fringes and making them regulars in his side.
Certainly, Walters doesn't want to hang around much longer. With his 27th birthday arriving this Tuesday, he realises he is no spring chicken and representing the land of his mother, Helen Brady, would be an honour on two levels.
"Mum passed away when I was 12," said Walters. "And when I played that time for the Under-21s, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Loads of family travelled to Switzerland to watch that game and after it, they were saying, 'you know Jonathan, your mum would be proud today'.
"So I'd love to do it again on a personal as much as a professional level. Since I was a kid, I've holidayed in the caravan park just outside Carlingford with all my cousins and now I'm going back there with my two daughters to keep the generation game going."
The next time he hopes to be back on Irish soil is next month when Ireland meet Russia.
And who knows? Perhaps a shaven head, passionate midfielder is just what Trap needs. If you can't have Roy Keane, why not go for the bloke who fell out with him?
KEANO SHOULD KNOW ABOUT 'PUKE FOOTBALL'
I brought in vomit to prove I was really sick
WALTERS: Left Ipswich under a cloud
By Garry Doyle, 18/09/2010
JON WALTERS has every reason to be sick and tired of Roy Keane.
After a year in the Corkman's company, he went from being star pupil and Ipswich Town captain to club outcast.
Pigeon-holed as a troublemaker, when the opposite was the case, Walters' fall-out with Keane had shades of Saipan - only in reverse.
This time the hunted was the hunter. Keane, the accuser, reckoned his former Irish Under-21 international Walters was pulling a fast one in the hope of getting a move away from the club.
Instead, Walters was being a model pro, to the extent where he even took a picture of his VOMIT to prove he wasn't faking illness the night before a League Cup match at Exeter.
Walters said: "Roy annoyed me because he made me out to be a bad egg which is not what I am all about.
"What happened was this. At the start of pre-season, I was aware of interest from a couple of Premier League teams.
"So Roy pulled me into his office and said: 'How are you?' I said: 'My head's not the best but I'm okay.' We talked about things and I said if an offer is right for the club and yourself, I would like to take it.
"He was completely fine with me and said I could have a couple of weeks to think about it and if I still felt the same way then I could move on.
"But within two weeks, we spoke again. Nothing had changed. No realistic offers had come in. That was it. 'Fair enough,' I said. 'You know me. I am not going to be a bad egg around the place. I'll train, give everything and just get on with it. I am not the type of person who sulks.'
"And he agreed. So I carried on as normal, captained the side in the first game of the season against Middlesbrough and if there was any doubt I was messing about, you would have seen it during that match.
"But I gave 100 per cent. Then three days later, it all kicked off. We had Exeter away and all during the week everybody in my family had a vomiting bug. So I quarantined myself from the wife and kids to try and avoid it.
"But at 3am on the Tuesday morning I was throwing up. I even took a picture of my sick and sent it to the physio because I knew Roy wouldn't believe me, what with it being a cup tie, clubs being interested in me and all that sort of thing.
"So I got the physio and doctor to smell my breath the next morning just after I'd been sick again.
"The next day I trained, even though I'd been wiped out. Then I got a text on Thursday night saying 'have you seen the papers?'. Roy had a pop at me, basically saying certain players were throwing one in.
"A day later, he brought me into the office, said I was going to be playing but I didn't deserve to be captain because of my behaviour. Things got animated and he came out and told the papers my reaction was unbelievably overboard.
"But I still thought I would play even though I knew I wouldn't be captain."
Instead, he was dropped and then told his days at Ipswich were over.
Walters said: "Keane suggested I had my head turned by every Tom, Putz and Harry.
"But I hadn't moaned or told him I wanted to leave. I had trained well. It was disappointing it got made out that I had stamped my foot down when that simply wasn't the case."
If only Walters' issues with Irish managers started and ended with Keane.
Instead, he has a little history, having been the recipient of another piece of old-school behaviour from Don Givens, his former Irish Under-21 manager.
Having scored twice on his debut in a 2-0 away win in Switzerland, Walters never played for Ireland again, missing one game with injury, another with a tooth abscess and a third though mismanagement.
KEANE: Ipswich Town manager
Walters said: "It was the end of season. My team-mates were all away to Marbella on a booze-up to celebrate winning promotion.
"Rather than go there, I went to Lanzarote with my wife and was having a quiet one, going religiously to the gym every day.
"And then Don rang me. He must have got the international dialling tone because he asked where I was. I explained to him what I was doing and he said: 'It doesn't sound like you are committed to Ireland. I'm leaving you out.' I haven't heard from Ireland since."
Perhaps that will change under Giovanni Trapattoni, who has a habit of plucking guys from the fringes and making them regulars in his side.
Certainly, Walters doesn't want to hang around much longer. With his 27th birthday arriving this Tuesday, he realises he is no spring chicken and representing the land of his mother, Helen Brady, would be an honour on two levels.
"Mum passed away when I was 12," said Walters. "And when I played that time for the Under-21s, I couldn't stop thinking about her. Loads of family travelled to Switzerland to watch that game and after it, they were saying, 'you know Jonathan, your mum would be proud today'.
"So I'd love to do it again on a personal as much as a professional level. Since I was a kid, I've holidayed in the caravan park just outside Carlingford with all my cousins and now I'm going back there with my two daughters to keep the generation game going."
The next time he hopes to be back on Irish soil is next month when Ireland meet Russia.
And who knows? Perhaps a shaven head, passionate midfielder is just what Trap needs. If you can't have Roy Keane, why not go for the bloke who fell out with him?