beautifulrock
12/10/2004, 3:20 PM
Some detail of the press conf from the RTE website, intesting to hear his thoughts:
Roy Keane is delighted with the increased ambition that has instilled itself in the Ireland camp since his self-imposed two-year exile.
Keane's infamous bust-up with former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy is well documented, and played a considerable role in his decision to walk out on the squad shortly before the start of the 2002 World Cup.
But by that stage, Keane had also become increasingly disillusioned with what he saw as the clear lack of ambition beyond merely qualifying for the tournament behind the scenes.
One particular occasion during the qualifying campaign summed it all up for Keane, and it came after the 2-2 draw with Holland in Amsterdam. It was a match Ireland led 2-0 at one stage, only to be pegged back, yet come the final whistle a jubilant McCarthy hugged and kissed his players as if they had won, before later proclaiming it to be a brilliant point.
Those scenes weren't repeated at the Stade de France last Saturday and Keane is all the happier for it.
"We've done that before when we've got a half-decent result. But a lot has changed under Brian and his staff, even with the players' ambitions. I sense that in the camp. I felt before, that when we did qualify, that seemed to be the end of it, with people celebrating and relaxing too much. But the ambitions are a lot higher than they used to be - thank God."
Keane added: "After the game against France there was satisfaction, but we know there's a long way to go yet. We've been down this road many times before and that there are going to be ups and downs. We need to be ready for that, and if there are setbacks, then it's how you recover from them. On one hand it was a decent result, but let's not get carried away. There's a long way to go yet, but things have definitely changed here."
Roy Keane is delighted with the increased ambition that has instilled itself in the Ireland camp since his self-imposed two-year exile.
Keane's infamous bust-up with former Ireland manager Mick McCarthy is well documented, and played a considerable role in his decision to walk out on the squad shortly before the start of the 2002 World Cup.
But by that stage, Keane had also become increasingly disillusioned with what he saw as the clear lack of ambition beyond merely qualifying for the tournament behind the scenes.
One particular occasion during the qualifying campaign summed it all up for Keane, and it came after the 2-2 draw with Holland in Amsterdam. It was a match Ireland led 2-0 at one stage, only to be pegged back, yet come the final whistle a jubilant McCarthy hugged and kissed his players as if they had won, before later proclaiming it to be a brilliant point.
Those scenes weren't repeated at the Stade de France last Saturday and Keane is all the happier for it.
"We've done that before when we've got a half-decent result. But a lot has changed under Brian and his staff, even with the players' ambitions. I sense that in the camp. I felt before, that when we did qualify, that seemed to be the end of it, with people celebrating and relaxing too much. But the ambitions are a lot higher than they used to be - thank God."
Keane added: "After the game against France there was satisfaction, but we know there's a long way to go yet. We've been down this road many times before and that there are going to be ups and downs. We need to be ready for that, and if there are setbacks, then it's how you recover from them. On one hand it was a decent result, but let's not get carried away. There's a long way to go yet, but things have definitely changed here."