Roy Keane new Sunderland manager

[sligoman]

:eek: No joke, just mentioned on Sky Sports.

[Réiteoir]

oh Lord :D

Funniest thing I've heard since the news that Staunton was appointed Ireland manager

Did Quinn take advice from John Delaney or something?

[beautifulrock]

as per Sky sports, a turn up for the books if I ever seen one. Will be interesting to see how it goes. Hope it goes well for all involved including the many Irish players already there

[tricky_colour]

Roy Keane to be Sunderland boss!!!!!!!!!
Just heard on Sky Sports News!

[sligoman]

Bet ya (http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=39113) to it!:p

[sligoman]

I'm still in shock. Especially considering Keano had a bust up with Quinn aswell as McCarthy in Saipan.

Fair play Keano, interesting appointment! Should be good:D.

[tricky_colour]

Actually, Keane working for Quinn?
I'm not too sure about that?
But stranger things have happened.

[TonyD]

Amazing news. Can't wait to see Humpty Dunphy's take on it, given his hatred of Quinn and his blind love of everything in the Roy Universe. I'm staggered that Keane is prepared to work for Quinn to be honest.

[gustavo]

Sunderland Wolves should be good:)

[Scram]

Won a lot of money betting against this when he was favourite.

Couldn't see Keane taking any advice form this Chairman....."eh, Roy, I see where you're coming from but I don't agree that we should bring Denis Irwin out of retirement and pay him £15,000 a week, with respect...Roy"............."Stick it up your bo!!ocks ye yes man Dublin pr!ck".......No regrets...

But as they have the same agent and lawyer....who knows...not exactly the top manager Quinn has mooted!

[thejollyrodger]

HAHAHA:D cant belive this !!

[gustavo]

They have remained silent on it yet

[shakermaker1982]

Good luck Keano - very surprised but the Sunderland -Wolves game must be ppv material now!!!

[SUB of the day]

Will he do as well as Niall and Mick?:D

[tricky_colour]

Will he do as well as Niall and Mick?:D


He can hardly do any fooking worse :D
It's a no lose situation!!

[tricky_colour]

Those Sunderland lads won't know what's hit em :D
Probably a careless kicked boot :D

[gloryglorygufc]

Whatever happens, it'll be lively up there.
What odds on him decking a player after the first loss???

[zinedineontour]

Those Sunderland lads won't know what's hit em :D
Probably a careless kicked boot :D

He is gonna get a shock when he goes to training and see the likes of danny collins (probably asking him for his shirt)and tommy miller. I have my opinions on Saipan but really think he is exactly what we need at the club and things can only improve now .

[dfx-]

I wonder what Sunderland fans think..last season's disaster followed by the start of this one after a takeover and now Keane as manager...:eek:

[Bomb Landsdowne]

Over on the Sunderland forum the news isnt going down well.

[DeNiro]

It will be interesting to see the Wolves v Sunderland game. McCarthy V Keane II

[bennocelt]

heard he is putting in a transfer request for Ben Tatcher

[mypost]

Ahem, steady on lads.

Firstly, this news is a lot of hot air atm. Neither Quinn, Keane, Kennedy, or the Sunderland board have made any statements confirming this "news" as of yet. Atm, it's a bit like the "news" that Terry Venables would be the new coach of Ireland. Or the recent "news" that Owen Hargreaves would leave Bayern Munich, and the other "news" that Ronaldo was joining Real Madrid. None of which turned out to be news at all. But this "story" has got Sky a few extra viewers, I see. :rolleyes:

Secondly, I can't see why Keane would work for Quinn. They're not exactly best mates now, are they?? :confused:

[carrickharp]

Saturday, 25 November 2006
The Coca-Cola Football League Championship
Wolverhampton v Sunderland, 15:00

[OwlsFan]

Quinn obviously has no pride. That attempted handshake taught me that. To hire someone who called him Mother Teresa and a Muppet :eek:

Interesting. Talk of Brian Kidd being his right hand man.

[Roadend]

If he does get the job they should take odds on how quickly Keane will walk out on them.....

[NeilMcD]

I very rarely comment on speculation but this has been carried by all the news agency and local journalist were on saying it is a done deal They also mention Kidd as assistant so I think it has all the signs that it is going to happen.

I could not believe it when I heard it. I never thought that Quinn or Keane would work with each other. Maybe Quinn working with Keane, because as Owls Fans hints at Quinn does not let principles get in the way of things. Brady and Giles this morning were saying that they feel that the Quinn is the spokesperson but is not really pulling the strings at the club and that the backers are the ones who are the main reason Keane is coming on board.

What it will do is make interesting watching over the next few months and lets hope its good for the Irish lads at the club.

[FarBeag]

If its true and tbh i hope it is i wish them the best of luck.

[NY Hoop]

Brady and Giles this morning were saying that they feel that the Quinn is the spokesperson but is not really pulling the strings at the club and that the backers are the ones who are the main reason Keane is coming on board.

That is 100& correct. It's a good move by them IMO. Traitor's stature in the english game will ensure they can sign some good players.


KOH

[Billsthoughts]

Can we only deal in the facts please. Nobody has been appointed yet.

[Ozymandias]

reaction on the sunderland forum original wasn't great but now the majority are all for it..the lads on gift grub must be delighted..radio roy is back

[joeSoap]

10 classic Roy Keane rants

The man set to be the next Sunderland manager has never been afraid to speak his mind, as these legendary outbursts show :

1) THE ONE THAT GOT ROY THROWN OUT OF WORLD CUP:
Keane temporarily quits international football after a monumental slanging match with Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy, in front of his team-mates in Saipan. Keane had expressed his frustrations with the side's preparations for the 2002 World Cup to the Irish Times, telling them: "You've seen the training pitch and I'm not being a prima donna. Training pitch, travel arrangements, getting through the bloody airport when we were leaving, it's the combination of things. I would never say 'that's the reason or this is the reason', but enough is enough."

That interview led to a furious row, during which Keane told McCarthy. "Mick, you're a liar... you're a ****ing ******. I didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You're a ****ing ****** and you can stick your World Cup up your arse. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country! You can stick it up your ********."

2) THE ONE THAT LED TO ROY LEAVING MANCHESTER UNITED
Keane leaves Manchester United after attacking seven of his team-mates on the club's TV channel, MUTV. Keane's most stinging vitriol was reserved for Ferguson's record signing, Rio Ferdinand. "Just because you are paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar," Keane said. "The younger players have been let down by some of the more experienced players. They are just not leading. There is a shortage of characters in this team. It seems to be in this club that you have to play badly to be rewarded. Maybe that is what I should do when I come back. Play badly." Not surprisingly the video, originally scheduled as part of the Roy Keane Plays the Pundit slot on MUTV, was pulled at the insistence of manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

3) THE ONE WITH THE SNAPPED LIGAMENT
After Keane suffered a season-ending knee injury while trying to trip up Alf Inge Halaand in September 1997, the Irishman stewed for three years before exacting his revenge in the Manchester derby. "I'd waited long enough. I ****ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you ****," he recalled in his autobiography in 2002. "And don't ever stand over me again sneering about fake injuries. And tell your pal [David] Wetherall there's some for him as well. I didn't wait for Mr Elleray to show the red card. I turned and walked to the dressing room."

4) THE ONE WITH THE PRAWN SANDWICH:
Keane hits out at sections of United's support in the wake of what he felt was a dire atmosphere in the club's Champions League clash with Dynamo Kiev in 2000. "Sometimes you wonder, do they understand the game of football?" he splutters. "We're 1-0 up, then there are one or two stray passes and they're getting on players' backs. It's just not on. At the end of the day they need to get behind the team. Away from home our fans are fantastic, I'd call them the hardcore fans. But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don't realise what's going on out on the pitch. I don't think some of the people who come to Old Trafford can spell 'football', never mind understand it."

5) THE ONE WITH THE RUN-IN WITH BIG JACK:
Even as a teenager, Keane is not afraid to stand up to authority. Following a friendly against the United States in Boston in 1991, the Republic of Ireland team are allowed a night out. The next morning, with departure set for 7.30am, the team are kept waiting until 8am by Keane. A furious Jack Charlton says: "Nineteen years old, your first trip, do you have any idea how long we have been waiting?" Keane replies, without a hint of fear: "I didn't ask you to wait, did I?"

6) THE ONE WITH THE LETTER:
In 2000, Manchester United write a letter to fans blaming Roy Keane's new £52,000-a-week contract for the hike in season ticket prices. Roy, unsurprisingly, isn't happy. "I'm not one for holding grudges but this was a stupid mistake, a bad public relations exercise and something that should never have happened," he thunders. "I'm still waiting for my apology but I could be waiting a long time. The board have tried to explain what they meant, that it was part of a wider picture of trying to keep the fans informed, telling them the club wanted to rebuild and strengthen, which is why prices were going up. The fact is nobody should be singled out in a letter. It wasn't right. I felt everything was being laid at my door."

7) THE ONE WHERE PLAYERS ARE "PIECES OF MEAT"
It's 2002, and Jaap Stam's £16.5m departure to Lazio finds Roy unhappy. Again. "His transfer to Lazio illustrates how little power footballers have in the game. Contracts mean nothing," he fumes. "He has discovered that, to football clubs, players are just expensive pieces of meat. The harsh realities remain and when a club decide they want to sell there is little you can do once the wheels are in motion."

8) THE ONE WHERE ROY PROVES TO BE A FORTUNE TELLER:
Just prior to United's make-or-break Premiership showdown with Arsenal in 2002, Keane questions the desire of some of his team-mates and warns - prophetically as it turns out - the Red Devils could end the season without a trophy. "There are a lot of cover-ups sometimes and players need to stand up and be counted," he admits. "I'm not sure that happens a lot at this club. That's the least we should do. We shouldn't have to demand it from the players - they should be proud to play and give 100%. We're not asking for miracles. We're asking them to do what they should be doing. When players don't do that it's bloody frustrating. We're going to find it hard to win the league and if we end up with no trophies there's something wrong."

9) THE ONE WHERE HE BLAMES THE YOUNGSTERS
As United lose their grip on their Premiership title in 2004, Keane rounds on unidentified younger players, accusing them of not pulling their weight. "We have one or two young players who have done very little in the game," he spits. "They need to remember that and not slack off. They need to remember just how lucky we all are to play for Manchester United and show that out on the pitch."

10) THE ONE WITH THE IRISH BLAZERS: In 2001, Keane hints he might quit the international stage if Republic of Ireland officials continue to treat the squad like second-class citizens. Fresh from a brilliant performance in a 4-0 thrashing of Cyprus, Keane blasts the FAI. "Where we trained last Monday, in Clonshaugh, was abysmal and it has been for as long as I've known it," he says. "I was fairly critical about our seating arrangements on the flight out here, when the officials were sitting in the first-class seats and the players were sitting behind. For me that's simply not right and it's not just because I'm playing for Manchester United. The priority has to be the team - and I don't think that has always been the case here."

[Jerry The Saint]

10 classic Roy Keane rants



1) THE ONE THAT GOT ROY THROWN OUT OF WORLD CUP:
Keane temporarily quits international football after a monumental slanging match with Republic of Ireland boss Mick McCarthy, in front of his team-mates in Saipan. Keane had expressed his frustrations with the side's preparations for the 2002 World Cup to the Irish Times, telling them: "You've seen the training pitch and I'm not being a prima donna. Training pitch, travel arrangements, getting through the bloody airport when we were leaving, it's the combination of things. I would never say 'that's the reason or this is the reason', but enough is enough."

That interview led to a furious row, during which Keane told McCarthy. "Mick, you're a liar... you're a ****ing ******. I didn't rate you as a player, I don't rate you as a manager, and I don't rate you as a person. You're a ****ing ****** and you can stick your World Cup up your arse. The only reason I have any dealings with you is that somehow you are the manager of my country! You can stick it up your ********."



I think it's fair to say that he'd HAD it with that motherf***ing manager at that motherf***ing World Cup!

[bennocelt]

= It's a good move by them IMO. Traitor's stature in the english game will ensure they can sign some good players.


KOH


"traitor" :rolleyes:

[Dodge]

Can we only deal in the facts please. Nobody has been appointed yet.

:D

Good luck to him

[Forever Dreamin]

I think it's fair to say that he'd HAD it with that motherf***ing manager at that motherf***ing World Cup!

so there was a problem with the worldcup too as well as our mick :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Billsthoughts]

He had a problem with your mick bein cold blooded and sneaky and slithery.........

[NeilMcD]

s players or personalities, Niall Quinn and Roy Keane share few similarities.

But it seems the former Republic of Ireland team-mates, who had a spectacular falling out before the 2002 World Cup finals, are about to become unlikely bed-fellows at the Stadium of Light.

With Sunderland chairman Quinn set to appoint Keane as the manager to turn his struggling club around, BBC Sport takes a look at the history of the Black Cats' proposed pairing.

PERSONALITY CLASH

Quinn is the genial giant who has laughed and joked his way through life. Keane is the angry ant who even when things were going well was never far away from a scowl.

Roy Keane
Keane preferred walking the dog to spending time with his team-mates
During his spell as a Sunderland player, Quinn could often be found in a pub chatting to the locals about everything from horse racing to politics.

In contrast, Keane wanted nothing more than to be left alone to walk his dogs.

As a player, Quinn gained success through a deft touch and a fine reading of the game, happy to admit that he was never one of the most dedicated when it came to cross-country runs.

Keane was the fierce competitor, not content unless his team-mates were also squeezing out every last drop of effort.

Off the field, Quinn, seen as one of the brightest and most articulate of footballers, rarely had a bad word for anyone or anything, and few have had a bad word about him.

Keane is a man of few kind words, from managers to the media, from team-mates to opponents.

Even his own fans did not escape his wrath, with his famous "prawn sandwich" tirade about Manchester United's supporters.

WORLD CUP FINALS FALL-OUT

In the summer of 2002, Keane attracted criticism for skipping Quinn's testimonial in Sunderland.

The midfielder, who had refused to contribute to the programme notes for the game over a spat with a journalist, was injured but still expected to show his face.

In turn, Quinn was one of the senior players that Keane felt had refused to back him in his quest to improve Ireland's facilities.

But all that was just the eye of the storm that was to follow when Keane and Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy fell out ahead of the World Cup finals in Japan.

Quinn found himself stuck in the middle of the Saipan controversy.

Quinn and Keane share an agent in Michael Kennedy and the big striker became a mediator in trying to broker a peace deal.

And when Quinn was ultimately forced to take sides he threw his backing behind manager McCarthy.

In Keane's eyes you are either with him or against him - and Quinn was very much against him.

THE AFTERMATH

Both Quinn and Keane aired their views through the media over the saga that split a nation.

Here's what they had to say about each other:

Keane on Quinn:
"Niall Quinn going on TV and saying that he was shattered from it, saying he hadn't slept. Did he think it was a walk in the park for me coming back to Ireland, what my family and kids had to go through?

"He's sitting on TV pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. He deserves an Oscar that fella, making out to be Mother Teresa. People don't know half of it."

Quinn on Keane:
"How do you measure professionalism? By how much pasta you eat? Bleep tests? Abstinence? The ability to get on with it no matter what the circumstances?

"Walking out on your team before the greatest games of their lives?

"We all take responsibility for ourselves. Roy left us in Saipan, not the other way round. And he punished himself more than any of us by not coming back."

But in his autobiography, Quinn's admiration for Keane shone through, even for the way he dismantled McCarthy in front of the Irish squad.

"People talk about Irish patriot Robert Emmet's speech from the dock. They talk about the oratory of Brendan Behan, Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins.

"But Roy Keane's 10-minute oration can be mentioned in the same breath. It was clinical, fierce, earth-shattering to the person on the end of it and it ultimately caused a huge controversy in Irish society."

In August 2002, Keane and Quinn had agreed to shake hands in front of the world when Manchester United visited Sunderland.

But their attempt to make a public reconciliation fell flat when Keane was sent off after being wound-up by Jason McAteer.

Quinn attempted to speak to Keane only to receive the hairdryer treatment from United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, who had misread the situation.

UPSTAIRS-DOWNSTAIRS

Quinn once said of Keane: "His weakness is his unforgiving attitude to his team-mates. That's where Roy and I will always differ."

Niall Quinn
Quinn hopes Keane can help him turnaround the club
But with the hatchet now seemingly buried, the two opposites appear to be an attractive proposition for a club who have suffered a dramatic demise.

Keane and Quinn will either prove to be the ideal good cop-bad cop partnership that Sunderland need or a high-stakes gamble with the potential to go spectacularly wrong.

McAteer once admitted that players raise their game for fear of upsetting Keane.

It will certainly offer something for Sunderland's under-performing players to think about in the coming weeks.

If anything, it promises to be an interesting period for all concerned, in particular when Sunderland make the trip to face Mick McCarthy's Wolves side on 25 November.

[Billsthoughts]

what was that from, Punch magazine?

[Poor Student]

Right, I'll come out and say it: It'll be interesting to see the next Wolves clash with Sunderland.

Now, no mention of the Keane/McCarthy thing please.

[Billsthoughts]

I was actually talking about snakes on a plane....

[NeilMcD]

what was that from, Punch magazine?

NO more worringly it was from the BBC website.

[NeilMcD]

More than meets the eye

No one has a clue how his appointment will turn out, but Roy Keane could well become the most intriguing manager in English football since Brian Clough.
Rob Smyth
August 24, 2006 03:17 PM

The scene drifts easily into the mind's eye: the victim cowering miserably as Roy Keane goes postal yet again. It's X-rated stuff, a pitiless character assassination that concludes with an almost demented demand for more. Keane's dealings with his new chairman Niall Quinn will certainly be interesting if he takes the Sunderland job, but it is his relationship with his new players that really makes this one of the most fascinating appointments in modern football history.

The prevailing wisdom is that Keane's sole tactic will be to hit underperforming players with a blast so vicious as to make Sir Alex Ferguson's hairdryer feel like a gentle breeze in the desert. It is a horrible oversimplification. While Keane's attacks of rage are likely to be random and brutal, there is so much more to this incredibly complex man, a compelling fusion of forensic intelligence and pathological yearning. Quinn knows this. It was he, for example, who described Keane's ostensibly foul-mouthed slicing-and-dicing of Mick McCarthy in Saipan as "the most articulate, the most surgical slaughtering I have ever heard". He could become the most intriguing manager in English football since Brian Clough.

Or he could be a total disaster. Clough was at Leeds for 44 days and Nottingham Forest for 18 years, and you suspect that Keane may similarly be all or nothing. Certainly, there are enough reasons to suggest that it would be no surprise if he didn't last till Christmas. There is his relationship with Quinn, who he witheringly called "Mother Teresa" in 2002; Quinn may need to live up to the nickname if and when Keane goes off on one. Then there is the fear that someone so antisocial may not be able to communicate fully with his players, that he may struggle to cope with the media spotlight, that his inability to spout bland inanities to the press will lead to damaging criticism of individual players. Keane can also be wildly erratic in his judgments, as Darren Fletcher and Carlos Queiroz in particular would testify. The greatest concern, however, is that he will struggle to accept those who do not meet his almost unattainable standards. Having spent much of his career in extremely exalted company, he may find it difficult to work with players who struggle to get the ball from A to B at the best of times, never mind with a 90% success rate.

Effort alone is not enough, and Keane's expectations of his employees will go way beyond them giving 100%. Just ask Jesper Blomqvist, a diligent pro but one for whom Keane could barely hide his professional contempt. He needs players he can trust - in terms of attitude, desire and most of all ability. His pursuit of excellence will be maniacal, unflinching, more mentally gruelling than anything any of these players will have ever experienced; they are standards that would challenge the Brazil 1970 side, never mind a team that has just lost to Bury. It will take a strong character to want to work for Keane, never mind succeed, but to turn down the chance would be like walking away at the end of Lost In Translation. You would forever wonder what might have been.

So would English football if Keane had never stepped into management. Despite all the understandable reservations, it would dangerous to assume that Roy Keane would ever fail at anything. This is a character like no other: drawn magnetically to the edge; possessed of a beautiful, tortured mind which bubbles with a furious intelligence that, in his playing days, allowed him to appraise and shape the ebb and flow of a contest better than anyone; a man so shy that he struggles to talk to strangers, so aloof as to say he has never made a friend in football, and so hard that he could look every single member of the Manchester United dressing-room in the eye last year as he told them exactly what he had said about them in his infamous MUTV rant.

There is something of Martin O'Neill about Keane - a simmering, forensic, Clough-taught Irishman whose disciples would go to the ends of the earth for their man. It is entirely conceivable that he could imbue his Sunderland team with an irresistible force. The Black Cats may be about to morph into cornered tigers.

One thing they won't be is headless chickens. Forget the sporadic rage blackouts; Keane likes his footballers cool and clinical. This devil is obsessed with the detail, the minutiae of football matches. "They say God is in the detail; in football that's true," he wrote in his autobiography. "Sometimes games are won by a magical goal - that's what people remember. But the essence of the game is more mundane. Detail. Wearing down the opposition. Winning the psychological battles - man on man - from the moment the ref blows the whistle for the first time." To many Keane is a law unto himself, but to him all that matters is what he calls the Law Of Cumulation. "First tackle, first pass, first touch, everything counts. A lot of little things add up to the thing that matters: breaking the opposition's hearts - but first their minds, their collective mind."

It was Clough who taught Keane these principles. "If you weren't doing your stuff, Clough would spot it," he said. "A seemingly innocuous mistake that resulted in a goal conceded three or four minutes later, a tackle missed, or a failure to make the right run, or pass, would be correctly identified as the cause of the goal. It was no use pointing the finger at someone else - which is second nature to most players. He knew; you knew he knew. Every football match consists of a thousand little things which, added together, amount the final score. The game is full of bluffers, banging on about 'rolling your sleeves up', 'having the right attitude' and 'taking some pride in the shirt'. Brian Clough dealt in facts, specific incidents, and invariably he got it right."

In many ways, Clough is a more relevant reference point for Keane's managerial career than Sir Alex Ferguson. There is the inscrutability, the wild and random mood changes - and the unconditional love for the only tool of the trade that matters, the football. Clough once chinned Keane for passing the ball back to the goalkeeper, and it was from him that Keane learned to abhor the aimless, brainless pass. In the pinball game that is the Premiership, you always knew exactly where Keane's touch was going - to another Manchester United shirt. In his Room 101, giving away possession comes somewhere between prawn sandwiches, bluffers and Mick McCarthy.

For all Keane's obvious qualities, his appointment remains an almighty gamble - particularly given that, last season, Quinn said he thought Keane would not make a good manager. Nobody has a clue how it's going to turn out. But it's going to be fun watching.

[OwlsFan]

And to think I had booked to go to the Sunderland vs Owls game on September 30 before the news broke. Even more appetising now.

[NeilMcD]

Roy Keane visited Sunderland today where he met with players and officials from the club.

Keane and the club have agreed terms on him being appointed as manager, and it is envisaged that he will sign a formal contract immediately after Sunderland's game against West Brom tomorrow.


From teh Sunderland website.

[Emmet]

Fair play to all invloved I say - it is good to see they are able to patch up past differences and get on with it

[SunnySweeney]

It's official as per Sunderlands web site. He signed a 3 year deal with Tony Loughlan - ex Leicester City joining him as head coach. Loughlan was at Forest with Keane for one year and then moved on. Anyone know anything else about him (Loughlan that is).:D

[NeilMcD]

By Nick Alexander

Roy Keane speaking at today's press conference:

"It's been very hectic, I'm absolutely knackered but it has been enjoyable. I'm looking forward to getting on with the job now.

"We met three months ago and I spoke to Niall Quinn, but at the time my priority was to sit my A [coaching] badge.

"Niall tried it [manager's job], it proved an impossible job with roles involved. He got back in touch last Monday when I was in Portugal [on holiday].

"My attitude was that I would wait a bit longer. Then I thought, 'What am I waiting for'. The challenge is there. Sunderland is a big club with a beautiful stadium, a good fan base and I thought, 'Why not'.

"I knew I would like to go to club with a decent structure, fan base, with good facilities. I obviously checked it all out and I just kept saying, 'Why not'. I played up here enough times and I know what it's like. They [the fans] love their football, they are passionate and I need that in my life.

"I want the players to keep up the level of performance from yesterday, I thought they were outstanding and credit to Niall and the other staff, we just came to watch.

"Credit to our lads and now they've got to try to keep it up. I want to bring one or two players in, in terms of experience. I'm looking at one or two areas.

"There are some good, hardworking players here and hopefully I can bring a bit more to the club.

"I think our relationship [with Niall Quinn] will be fine fine, I really do. A lot of people make big isssue of it. We sorted it out there and then [when they met in the summer], despite whether I took the job or not.

"People have impressions of me. I've had indifferences with thousands of people over the years. I care, that's the type of character I am.

"I've played under some great managers, some good managers and some not so good managers.

"It's new to me, it's was my first day today, it's learning curve and I'm looking forward to it. I'm young and hungry, and it's the same with Tony Loughlin [head coach], that's a big plus.

"We're lacking experience but it's not worked out for one or two experienced managers here.

"I have crossed that white line before and it's cost me, the World Cup in 2002 was a downside; but it's [my character] also a big plus, I care about the game who I'm playing for or managing.

"I will look to get the balance right and it comes with experience. I'm just glad I've got this opportunity and I would not be sitting here if I thought I could not do it.

"All that's expected is people give 100%, I only criticised if people were slack and not focused. I spoke with the players this morning and reassured them that if they give 100 per cent, there will not be a problem. If people take their eye of the ball, there will be a problem - it's straightforward.

"I spoke briefly to Alex Ferguson in the last few days, but you've got to be your own man. I always enjoyed the way he looked after his players, backed them and defended them. Maybe I crossed that line towards the end [of his time at United] and rightly was punished. You move on.

"I was very fortunate to play under him and I know I can pick up the phone to him. I'm sure he will lend me a few players.

"When I retired, I believed I'd be one or two years out of the game. After doing my A badge at the end of July, when I met some great people, I just thought coaching was right for me.

"Fortunately the opportunity came here. I'm ready to cope with it. You have to give it a go. In life you have to go for it. Had I not taken it, in six months' time I might have regretted it.

"When I was playing I always saw games like a war. It was part of my image, playing for the biggest club in the world. I had to win at all costs. I can't be like that as much now, but again if something not right I'll deal with it, hopefull a little more subtly.

"It's all a balancing act. I have to be different as a manager. Let's kick on, onwards and upwards.

"You can go a hell of a long way when you have that believe. Let's kick on and see where we go."

[drinkfeckarse]

Cheers for that Neil, didn't know you were a Bohs fan??

[beautifulrock]

will watch with interest, i always happy to see Irish people do well in any walk of life . I just hope it works out.