What are your ambitions as a United player?”
To win as many trophies as possible. As a player I am greedy and selfish in that way. As you get older, the seasons seem to go by that bit quicker. So, I just want to win as many trophies as I can and stay injury-free if that’s possible. To me it is all about the European Cup and the Premiership. That is what the fans demand and it’s a great responsibility for all the players because that is what we are paid to provide. When we disappoint we all suffer, and we’ve disappointed too many times this season.”
There seems to be endless rumours about yourself and Celtic, can you put the record straight?
”My stance is that I have two years on my contract at Manchester United and I have never been happier. In my eyes I am playing for the biggest club in the world, there is no doubt in my mind about that. Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for the Milans, Madrids, the Arsenal’s and the Celtic’s – they’re all great clubs. But I’ve got two years on my contract and I couldn’t be happier. It’s unfortunate, but it is part of football that people are going to speculate. That’s part of being a footballer. I think sometimes the more you comment on it the more is made of it.”
Er, shall we just leave this question out then?
”[Laughs] Yeah, exactly. That’s it, though. If you say ‘no comment’ people think, ‘Oh, he’s going’. You can’t win. It’s strange. As I say, I’m very happy here.”
What are your ambitions as a United player?
”To win as many trophies as possible. As a player I am greedy and selfish in that way. As you get older, the seasons seem to go by that bit quicker. So, I just want to win as many trophies as I can and stay injury-free if that’s possible. To me it is all about the European Cup and the Premiership. That is what the fans demand and it’s a great responsibility for all the players because that is what we are paid to provide. When we disappoint we all suffer, and we’ve disappointed too many times this season.”
There seems to be endless rumours about yourself and Celtic, can you put the record straight?
”My stance is that I have two years on my contract at Manchester United and I have never been happier. In my eyes I am playing for the biggest club in the world, there is no doubt in my mind about that. Don’t get me wrong, I have great respect for the Milans, Madrids, the Arsenal’s and the Celtic’s – they’re all great clubs. But I’ve got two years on my contract and I couldn’t be happier. It’s unfortunate, but it is part of football that people are going to speculate. That’s part of being a footballer. I think sometimes the more you comment on it the more is made of it.”
Er, shall we just leave this question out then?
”[Laughs] Yeah, exactly. That’s it, though. If you say ‘no comment’ people think, ‘Oh, he’s going’. You can’t win. It’s strange. As I say, I’m very happy here.”
I read this line in a newspaper last week: “Part of the fascination with Roy Keane is that you are never quite sure what is coming next”. Could that be applied to your decision to play for Ireland again?
”I think as a player you can’t be looking too far ahead. And in football I think you should always expect the unexpected. I’m sitting here saying ‘I’ve got two years left on my contract’; many players have said that and before you know it they’re off. I try not to look too far ahead. You have to make these decisions like the one about playing for Ireland. I made the decision and there are lots of reasons why, but I just feel it is the right one. And I believe I will be proved right. We’ll see. Like you said, you have to expect the unexpected
”I think as a player you can’t be looking too far ahead. And in football I think you should always expect the unexpected. I’m sitting here saying ‘I’ve got two years left on my contract’; many players have said that and before you know it they’re off. I try not to look too far ahead. You have to make these decisions like the one about playing for Ireland. I made the decision and there are lots of reasons why, but I just feel it is the right one. And I believe I will be proved right. We’ll see. Like you said, you have to expect the unexpected
