Keane on Ireland

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 1:56 PM

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

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 2:30 PM

sorry conor i did not know you were the god on when new threads shoudl be up up etc. Let me know when this job has been given to you. Until then i am free to put up threads whenever i choose. He does comment on Ireland breifly and I decided to put it up as a new thread cause its a free world and i can. If you have a problem with it, dont comment on it does it really bother you that its a new thread. Its from the Man Utd. com website that is why most of the questions are about them. Get your facts correct when it comes to my awe. These are my views on Keane keep them in mind when you make comments about my awe for Keane.

I think Keane as been on of the best midfielders in the Premiership for the last 10 years.

He was magnificent in our qualifiers for 2002 world cup and 1994 world cup campaign

He is a flawed character but so am I. He has what Graeme Souness said is that arrogance to be a top player.

There are many holes in his argument in saipan etc but i do believe it takes two to tango.

I still think he can do a job for us in midfield and his experience with be invaluable.

That is far as my awe goes, and to be honest i would reckon that Brian Kerr would agree with most of that.

**Greenbod** · 27/04/2004, 3:14 PM

Originally Posted by NeilMcD

There are many holes in his argument in saipan etc.

What are these holes you speak of?

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 3:45 PM

its an interview thats all its his answers no here worship or anything and the points I stated are not hero worship i think they are facts and which ones are you prepared to disagree with as I think if you say he is not one of the best midfielders over the last 10 years in the premiership you have basically just put your hand up and said i know nothing about football

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 4:05 PM

[BTW wasn't telling you what threads you could and could not post. Just surprised that anyone would cut and paste chunks of Keane hero worship stuff from MUTV or ManU Forever or Red Issue whatever your unbiased analytical source is and think it a worthy piece that's all...[/QUOTE]

conor i am in the habit of getting the source of comments quotes etc and ones usually gets these from the offical websites. The reason for this is to understand the context of certain comments etc. Forgive me for visiting the manchester utd website, but i as a spurs supporter , i am not blinkered enought not to vist these websites. what i pasted was a direct interview with Keane, as a result one can judge it on its merits and not have text or comment which usually follows on other websites which help make you think iin a certain way etc.

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 4:11 PM

no and i did not say you said it either, you asked me did i get the points i made about keane from the man utd website when clearly they were my opinion and not from the website. Which infered that you were been sarcastic and questioning these exact points. So i asked which ones you did not agree with but you failed to outline which ones were not fact. It does not mean i know more about football but these are footballing facts

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 4:16 PM

IF you say he is not one of the best midfielders over the last 10 years in the premiership you have basically just put your hand up and said i know nothing about football. I was asking you which point did you not agree with and said IF you say. which is different to you said. but you like to imagine things that are there rather that dealing with the facts. Which points do you not agree with in my list of things about Keane, and if you agree with them all please say so and as a result take back that I got this from a keane loving man U website when I did not.

**NeilMcD** · 27/04/2004, 4:27 PM

i agree and stop posting nonsense to my posts from now on, for the last time it was my views in an attempt to clear up the myth that you think i was in awe of keane. I put up a few things about keane that were my opinion. I am not from cork, i donts support man utd. I think keane has many flaws and not everything he does is for the good of the country. but you were trying to depict me as some sort of mornic guy that supports keane no matter what he does. However you tried to say i got them from a some man utd website. SInce i have been on this post you have managed to kill all debate and get on the nerves of people so take a good look at yourself