Who'd have thunk it?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/mai...1/sfnkea01.xml
McCarthy keen for Keane truce
By John Ley
Last Updated: 4:57am GMT 01/11/2006
The infamous and acrimonious four-year dispute between Mick McCarthy and Roy Keane appears to have come to an end after the Wolverhampton Wanderers manager admitted he had held talks with his former international player.
McCarthy and Keane clashed before the 2002 World Cup finals when Keane walked out of the Republic of Ireland's training camp at Saipan after severely criticising McCarthy.
Keane was unhappy with Ireland's preparations for the finals in Japan and South Korea, and after originally claiming that he was returning home had a change in heart but announced his international retirement after the tournament.
McCarthy responded immediately by calling a press conference, where he announced: "I cannot and will not tolerate being spoken to with that level of abuse being thrown at me so I sent him home."
The pair had not spoken since but now they find themselves as rivals in the Championship. In just over three weeks' time they meet as managers for the first time and, McCarthy revealed that he had a "cordial" conversation with Keane, believed to be about the possible loan move of Neil Collins from the Stadium of Light to Molineux.
When the pair fell out it seemed inconceivable that there could ever be such a reconciliation, particularly as the break-up effectively cost McCarthy his job as Ireland manager.
He later emerged at Sunderland, where Keane is now in charge, and McCarthy said: "It was about time that all this stuff with Roy and me came to an end. I was pleased I spoke to him. It is the first time we've spoken for four years.
"Professionally I wanted to speak to Sunderland about some players and I've never asked anybody else to do it.
"To be fair to Roy he's a manager now and I always speak to the manager so I picked the phone up and rang him. At the end of it we're professionals, and managers, and there's only 92 of us.
"It's about time it was all put to bed because we've both got to get on with our jobs which are difficult enough without other people putting spanners in the works.
"I think both of us thought it was time we did speak. It is time to move on and get on with our lives and careers. Everyone else seems to want to drag on what happened between Roy and me.
"I picked the phone up as I would with any other manager and we had a very good chat about players and a number of things that will stay between myself and Roy."
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