Keano to quit!

[Green Tribe]

hear hear davros, i will not miss roy keane, even though he is a good player, i think he is an arrogant nasty person. i hate his attitude and he is a horrible ambassador for ireland.

[Superhoops]

...its just my opinion....

Life is about opinions. we are all entitled to our own!

[martin_rules_ie]

Life is about opinions. we are all entitled to our own!

which is fair enough, i understand that.
but, my opinion is that your opinion is fuelled by your anti-cork attitude and/or black and white perspetive of things...

[martin_rules_ie]

...i think he is an arrogant nasty person. i hate his attitude and he is a horrible ambassador for ireland...

how is he arrogant?
how is he nasty?
what attitude are you talking about? the determined motivating professional attitude which still has him captain at one of the biggest clubs in world football?
horrible embassador ?? eh... what? captain of man utd, endless work for charity, very quiet character off the field, he has won it all and on the pitch recieves praise from every pundit, player, ex-player and manager as a world-class midfielder. ya i bet every national team in europe must think to themselves: 'roy keane. horrible ambassador for ireland! )

[Cosmo]

'and he is a horrible ambassador for ireland.'

I think there are a number of charities that will disagree with ye on that one but sure what do they know

[martin_rules_ie]

dont u just love misinformed muppets...!! i'm not pointing any fingers though
kerr's tribe, you are talking rubbish

[martin_rules_ie]

With that sort of 'clannish' parochial attitude it's hardly a surprise!

mickcollins was simply making the point that superhoops comments were more to do with a dislike of cork than something relating to football. i for one agree with him but that is nothing to do with a clannish parochial attitude.
by your logic, its ok to talk bulls.hit because he dislikes cork?? ..fair enuf??..

[tiktok]

In 18 months we may not want him, he may not be good enough anymore, I think he wanted to retire at the top, so end of next season makes sense for him. At that stage Reid, Miller, O'Shea, McGeady will be more experienced, Kilbane and Duff will hopefully still be playing as they are and we might see Delap and a few youngsters being introduced.

As for Saipan, the people who left us down there were those who didn't stand up and tell BOTH McCarthy and Keane to stop behaving like children, put it aside for four weeks, and then quit/retire then. They needed their heads knocked together.

Having said that, McCarthy was much more in the wrong

I think he walks onto any all time Irish XI. Good enough for me.

[martin_rules_ie]

...Having said that, McCarthy was much more in the wrong

I think he walks onto any all time Irish XI. Good enough for me.

gwen stefani's not the only on who loves ya!! well put

[tiktok]

As opposed to 'walks out of...'...

Worthy of Hal Roache

[Peadar]

What's changed?

We now have a decent manager.

[martin_rules_ie]

What's changed?

For you, conor my love :

Keane Was Dead Right Admit Ireland
Roy Keane's criticisms of Ireland's World Cup preparations look set to be the catalyst for widespread changes in Irish football after the FAI admitted to serious errors of judgment before and during this summer's tournament.
By Guardian Newspapers, 8/20/2002

Roy Keane's grievances about the Republic's World Cup preparations will result in significant changes after the Football Association of Ireland admitted for the first time that it had made serious errors of judgment before and during the summer tournament.

An independent inquiry commissioned by the FAI to investigate the circumstances surrounding Keane's walk-out from the squad will recommend that the association adopts a more professional approach. The general secretary Brendan Menton is likely to be heavily criticised and, as the FAI's highest-ranking official, may find his position under increasing scrutiny.

Keane had been scathing about the training facilities on Saipan, the Pacific island where the players were based before the tournament, and accused the FAI of undermining their chances, saying it was like "playing for the Dog and Duck".

Declan Conroy, speaking before this evening's friendly with Finland, said: "We have to hold up our hands and say we got things wrong."

Keane's sympathisers will consider that as an acknowledgement that the former captain raised justifiable points before his argument with the manager Mick McCarthy that led to him going home and effectively ending his Ireland career.

Menton also conceded that there would be significant changes to the FAI's preparations.

"There are things to improve on. I think you will find the organisation is structured very differently in 12 months," he said. "We don't want to be jeopardising the success of our national team."

The FAI has appointed Genesis, a Glasgow-based sports consultancy, to oversee the inquiry. Morris O'Connell, a former Bank of Ireland governor, and David Whitaker, a former coach of the Great Britain hockey team, will be used as consultants and the 23 squad members, including Keane, will be invited to make statements.

McCarthy was interviewed at the weekend but Keane has yet to indicate whether he will cooperate. The midfielder had complained about "dangerous" training facilities, that the skips carrying the players' kits had not arrived on time and that they were not given sensible food.

Keane was also critical about the FAI's reluctance to allow the players to fly first-class and questioned the wisdom of choosing a pre-tournament base which was a 23-hour flight from Dublin. (this is no longer an issue down to roy)
Although the FAI believes the manner in which Keane expressed his complaints was reprehensible, it is apparent that the association accepts part of the blame. A dietitian may now be employed and Eddie Cox, the FAI official responsible for the players' kits, faces awkward questions.

Menton's decision not to travel to Saipan will be scrutinised, as will his decision to fly to Seoul for the Fifa congress when talks were continuing to bring Keane back.

The inquiry team will also point out that the FAI should have begun preparations much earlier rather than waiting until after they qualified. Doing so would have helped secure the best facilities, distinctly not the case when Ireland arrived in Seoul for their match against Spain.

An interim report will be published next month - the full findings in October - but some changes are already being implemented. Players are now taken straight through airport check-ins to save them from being mobbed by fans. And the FAI has taken on two more press officers to join Brendan McKenna.

The FAI expects the review to recommend employing more specialist staff and, as such, the association intends to leave its headquarters in Dublin's Merrion Square for larger premises.

But it will be a major embarrassment, for both Menton and McCarthy, that Keane's criticisms will be the catalyst for widespread changes.


© Guardian Newspapers Limited

The FAI, although not perfect by a long shot, have copped on to themselves to a certain extent. Cheers roy da boy

[martin_rules_ie]

Exactly what Sunderland FC fans think too.

i think our national team deserves more than a 'decent' first division manger

[Cosmo]

'Yer probably right......trouble was even if such a hypothetical XI existed, the **** wouldn't turn-up!'

Yawn f_-king yawn

'What's changed?'

Are you for real asking that question?? Kerrs attention to detail for one and his professionalism (doubt he wouldve missed that spain only had 10 men on the pitch in the world cup ).

If we get to the world cup we'll see a big change in preparation, etc

[martin_rules_ie]

the FAI conceeded roy was right and that brought about the resignation of one mick mccarthy. kerr is a much superior manager. it seems the players like him, the media like him, the fans like him. he has a good eye for up and coming talent which is something mccarthy never had. mick stuck with his buddies, his team-mates from yesteryear and started them time and time again (stan, quinn et al) when he could have been blooding new talent!
roy wouldnt have returned if changes weren't made. therefore changes have been made. players don't fly economy class anymore i bet. and if/when we make it to germany, i doubt we'll be flying to timbuctoo for preperations.

[dublinred]

thats very positive, sounds like you would almost wish for this to happen

Don't wish for it to happen but going by his history ......

Most of the Irish squad in 2002 played in the premiership , we appartently were on the p1ss for 2 weeks in saipan had no footballs etc , how come we were physically fitter and stronger than the England team who had every facilitity under the sun in Japan personnel chefs etc . What ever McCarthy did in Saipan it worked as I recall us finishing all our games strongly and the players didn't have to so called fatique of the English team.

[ColinR]

Don't wish for it to happen but going by his history ......

Most of the Irish squad in 2002 played in the premiership , we appartently were on the p1ss for 2 weeks in saipan had no footballs etc , how come we were physically fitter and stronger than the England team who had every facilitity under the sun in Japan personnel chefs etc . What ever McCarthy did in Saipan it worked as I recall us finishing all our games strongly and the players didn't have to so called fatique of the English team.

yes, but why did we have terrible first halves in all our matches. for some reason it took our players much much longer than other teams to settle into the matches???????

[Macy]

Don't wish for it to happen but going by his history ......

Most of the Irish squad in 2002 played in the premiership , we appartently were on the p1ss for 2 weeks in saipan had no footballs etc , how come we were physically fitter and stronger than the England team who had every facilitity under the sun in Japan personnel chefs etc . What ever McCarthy did in Saipan it worked as I recall us finishing all our games strongly and the players didn't have to so called fatique of the English team.

And tatically we were so good, we couldn't beat 10 men.

[martin_rules_ie]

its actually physically painful reading your posts conor

it was the principal of the thing (excuse the cliche!!) why should some FAI 'officials' get better treatment than the players which represent the association on the pitch. and yes conor on a 23 hour flight i reckon an uncomfortable seat could well injure someone
this misreatment had been going on for years and when you go to your manager to make a complaint you'd expect a civilised conversation. but no. its much more professional to humiliate a player in front of his colleagues. the FAI agree roy was right. there were problems in the preperations, its a fact (not just plane seats!!).

i obviously can't speak for roy but i am guessing that he wanted to wait and see if changes actually had been made before he returned which is fair enough.
and anyway roy was told he should not play internationally again by the old trafford docs. maybe this is why he delayed a decision to return.
all this aside, he is back. i know it must eat you up inside conor but he's back!! oh joy.. lets rejoice. hail keano!! too bad he's not a kerry man eh ?

[dublinred]

And tatically we were so good, we couldn't beat 10 men.

Tactics were never McCarthys strong point but there was no doubting the squads fitness levels , Guinness beats beans on toast any day for stamina.