The latest Roy Keane interview . . .

juvenal

Perhaps of some interest here, no doubt worth a read no matter what your opinion on the subject matter. A wee bit long to post the entire article, link below.

The Irish Times - Sports - Saturday 21st February 2009

'The box office awaits the return of the matinee idol' - Tom Humphries

Get the impression that the change of ownership caused a different vibe in the club. Of course there are two sides to every story, and it will be interesting to see if there is any activity in the press across the pond as a result of this article.

What's interesting from the article is the hands-on attitude in the day-to-day running that Short employed when he took the controlling stake. If you follow US sports, you know that there is a culture there of much greater control and influence from the owners that we'd be used to here across the Atlantic. Look at the Superbowl presentation which usually involves the owner of the organisation, rather than the captain or even head coach. Owners are widely known, and enjoy a public profile that would be almost as big as the head coaches.

There hasn't been anything like this in England until perhaps Abramovich took over Chelsea, and this thrust the role of the owner right into the limelight. Traditionally the chairman was seen as the face of the club from a commecial point of view, whereas now it's the owner. Hicks, Gillett, Glazer, Abramovich, Ashley et al receive far more media coverage and appear to crave a much bigger role in the running of Premier League clubs than the old brigade of Al Fayed and co, and are responsible for moving more and more content on the business aspect of soccer from the business pages onto the back pages.

Interesting read nonetheless.

eagle eye

Thats a great read, cheers for posting the link.

I knew there was something more to this than him just sulking. He is his own man, he always has been. I respect his decision based on his comments in that article. Roy as he also says is not one of those guys who just rolls with the punches. He is quick to make his mind up and he knew there and then that it was over for him, for his own sake as much as anything else. He would probably end up clocking the guy if he had stayed.

Anyways I thought he was doing a fine job at Sunderland, they did not have a great start to this campaign but I always felt that his leaving had nothing to do with the teams performances. He says there that he was sorting out the long term contracts, the players you depend on to do a good job for the club. I always thought to myself that he had approached the job that way. You get a good enough base together its a lot easier to find those players that will spark it up to the next level.

I reckon he will not be out of management for long after that article. He is also telling those Chairmen that like to keep their nose in football matters that he won't be joining their club.

Just to add that Roy Keane is a straght talker, he will say it straght up or say nothing at all. Anything that comes from the Sunderland end will be well thought out and delivered with impliance rather than straight up leaving the impression of how things went without actually saying anything damning. It will be very interesting to see how the Sunderland faithful react to this, will they be happy with their new owner?

kryogen

Thanks for posting mate, thoroughly enjoyed that

Jazzy

hes always right

ziggy

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Carcharodon

Roy Keane always seems to make sense when he talks and tells it how it is but at the end of the day he is a contrary bloke that walked out on his country and Sunderland. The blame in this case obviously goes both ways, I don't think we can just accept what Roy Keane says as the Gospel.

stovelid

Nice one, OP.

Anybody wish had Roy had picked anybody but Humphries to be his earthy representative?

I'll read the article later in print and suffer TH's streams of conciousness and Celebrity Sports Hack In Third Person wankery over my lunch.

LuckyLloyd

God Bless Tom Humphries and the Irish Times.

D.S.

Interesting arcticle...I have to say though it really annoyed me as a journalistic piece...fuelling the fairytale and mysticism that is Roy Keane...no objectivity..

I think Roy Keane has great potential as a manager. He is a winner, he has got attention to detail and huge amount of passion for the game. But one of his central comments was that he's not there to keep players smiling..I have always thought this is his central flaw as a player and manager. He doesn't give a flying f**k about anyone's elses opinion. He is of the ilk - do your job and shut your mouth. However, some players need a different touch. Some players need a kick up the backside in private and glowing referencei in public. Some players need an arm around the shoulder. I don't think Roy understands the people side to management. He's got Ferguson's contraryness and management style. But he can't nurture a player's confidence or control a player's cockiness like Fergie..

Too much romanticism around Roy Keane. A great player. A manager with some potential. But a man who makes mistakes like every one else. But we rarely get an objective report on him..

leninbenjamin

ziggy wrote: »

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By the sound sof it he tried to change what was a (relatively) sucessful formula. His intentions seemed right to be fair, but he seemed to go the wrong way about it and i would think he'd be deserving of some blame if that's the case.

Tbh, it may also have been just the cultural differences, Southern American's in particular can be very in your face at times, whereas to get the best out of people like Roy (i.e. tempermental arseholes with a strong streak of brilliance) frequently requires a lot more tact and patience than people like Short would be used to.

leninbenjamin

D.S. wrote: »

I don't think Roy understands the people side to management. He's got Ferguson's contraryness and management style. But he can't nurture a player's confidence or control a player's cockiness like Fergie..

I'm not sure this is absolutely essential. it's the managers decision at the end of the day to bring in players he can work with, and i think Roy's naivity as a manager is what let him down down in this area. In many respects not all successful managers follow Fergy's example of catering for the brilliant but loose canons. Would it not be fair to say Mourinho employs a similar zero-tolerance strategy as Keane's approach? the bigger difference between the two at least seems to be Mourinho's reputation has players willing to pointificate before him... but that only comes with a (relatively) long time in management coupled with plenty of success.

D.S. wrote: »

Too much romanticism around Roy Keane. A great player. A manager with some potential. But a man who makes mistakes like every one else. But we rarely get an objective report on him..

very true.

SectionF

Roy Keane picks Tom Humphries to write his interviews because
a) in order to take offence you have to understand what is being written, and b) even insofar as it can be understood it is toe-curlingly obsequious twaddle.
http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/

stovelid

Roy is obviously putting himself back in the shop window?

D.S.

leninbenjamin wrote: »

I'm not sure this is absolutely essential. it's the managers decision at the end of the day to bring in players he can work with, and i think Roy's naivity as a manager is what let him down down in this area. In many respects not all successful managers follow Fergy's example of catering for the brilliant but loose canons. Would it not be fair to say Mourinho employs a similar zero-tolerance strategy as Keane's approach?

Not sure I agree with this. Mourinho was a disciplinarian. But he def knew how to get inside the minds of his players and influence them to his own end. The Chelsea team bought into this wholeheartedly. But when it came to media reports, Jose never faulted his team in public. Jose never had a major problem players that spilled out into the public. However, many of the same players under Scolari were completely poisonous to squad morale similar to Roy's situation. Mourinho had a zero-tolerance approach, but that worked because Mourinho's style of management was so successful.

D.S.

stovelid wrote: »

Roy is obviously putting himself back in the shop window?

Most definitely.

juvenal

I would've much preferred to see Keith Duggan cover this, as Humphries has lost the plot in many articles in the past couple of years, getting lost in misty-eyed hyperbole and off-topic meandering. On the other hand I've found Duggan's back-page Saturday columns just getting better and better every week.

It will be interesting to see if a club make a move for Keane over the summer. I think that Sunderland was a great learning curve for him, but also highlighted his shortcomings as a manager at the highest level. Dealing with professional sports' personalities nowadays you need all the qualities of a parent, a social worker, a psychologist, a public relations expert, and even a politician; not to mention the obvious talents that go with the specific role such as a tactician and trainer etc.

I'd be personally surprised if he returned to a Premier League club as manager at the moment, without further cutting his teeth on the less obvious aspects of management in the Championship.

Adamcp898

Cue the whole of Ireland to take Keane's side and Sunderland to lose the other half of their irish support* :pac:

*Apologies to the few real Sunderland supporters for the generalisation

JPA

“He went on loan to Coventry, and on a night we got beaten in the cup to Luton the staff came in and said ‘Clive Clarke has had a heart attack at Leicester’. I said, ‘Is he okay? I’m shocked they found one, you could never tell by the way he plays’. But Clive Clarke goes and does a piece in some newspaper telling the world that I have lost the dressingroom. He wasn’t there! How does he know? Clown!”

:eek:

stovelid

juvenal wrote: »

I would've much preferred to see Keith Duggan cover this,

This.

A sometimes great columnist. As good as Humphries before he went off the boil and started believing his own press.

stovelid

D.S. wrote: »

But he can't nurture a player's confidence or control a player's cockiness like Fergie..

In fairness, Keane should be given time. Fergie was originally just as one-dimensionally irascible as Keane is now. The Ferguson of '86 was not the Ferguson of the 90s. It's tempting to think that the latter may have got the service from McGrath that Villa did. Although, there is a school that would say that Paul had that Indian summer because of the after-shock and wake-up call of being dumped. Who knows.

Also Keane had millionaire players playing under sufferance at an unfashionable unsuccessful club. Fergie started at United when players were badly paid and more likely to take stick. Furthermore, when Untied dominated in his later career, players will also take more stick rather than get bombed out of the best club in the country.

D.S.

stovelid wrote: »

In fairness, Keane should be given time. Fergie was originally just as one-dimensionally irascible as Keane is now. The Ferguson of '86 was not the Ferguson of the 90s. It's tempting to think that the latter may have got the service from McGrath that Villa did. Although, there is a school that would say that Paul had that Indian summer because of the after-shock and wake-up call of being dumped. Who knows.

Also Keane had millionaire players playing under sufferance at an unfashionable unsuccessful club. Fergie started at United when players were badly paid and more likely to take stick. Furthermore, when Untied dominated in his later career, players will also take more stick rather than get bombed out of the best club in the country.

Completely agree with all of the above. For the record, Iv said in all my posts regarding Keane that he has potential, he's just nowhere near there yet...he's v young in managerial terms. However, if he doesn't grasp the human side of the game, he simply won't ever be a successful top flight manager..

D.S.

D.S. wrote: »

I think Roy Keane has great potential as a manager. He is a winner, he has got attention to detail and huge amount of passion for the game. But one of his central comments was that he's not there to keep players smiling..I have always thought this is his central flaw as a player and manager. He doesn't give a flying f**k about anyone's elses opinion. He is of the ilk - do your job and shut your mouth. However, some players need a different touch. Some players need a kick up the backside in private and glowing referencei in public. Some players need an arm around the shoulder. I don't think Roy understands the people side to management. He's got Ferguson's contraryness and management style. But he can't nurture a player's confidence or control a player's cockiness like Fergie..

Too much romanticism around Roy Keane. A great player. A manager with some potential. But a man who makes mistakes like every one else. But we rarely get an objective report on him..

It will be interesting to see whether he develops those skills in his next job.

Good read though.

juvenal

stovelid wrote: »

This.

A sometimes great columnist. As good as Humphries before he went off the boil and started believing his own press.

Did I miss something?:o

I presume you're talking about Duggan?

stovelid

D.S. wrote: »

Completely agree with all of the above. For the record, Iv said in all my posts regarding Keane that he has potential, he's just nowhere near there yet...he's v young in managerial terms. However, if he doesn't grasp the human side of the game, he simply won't ever be a successful top flight manager..

I think he will, given time.

Keane is from the old school where a manager (Couggh) punches you and it's acceptable. It's obvious that the lions share of his managerial problems are down to his inability to understand (or tolerate) modern players and cub structure, as became the case at United eventually.

The thing that I always laugh about when I think of Early and Late Fergie is the Giggs and Sharpe story. Could you conceivably see Ferguson turning up at Ronaldo's gaff, slapping him around the ear, and kicking Nani, Anderson and a couple of hooers out of the gaff.

Fergie adapted. I think Keane will, given the chance.

juvenal wrote: »

Did I miss something?:o

I presume you're talking about Duggan?

Aye, sorry, I was argeeing with you. I think some of his columns are very good. I even enjoy some of them re: sports I hate which is a great sign. On a par with some of Humphries' good earlier stuff, like his (TH's) piece about the Munster Hurling Final.

juvenal

stovelid wrote: »

Aye, sorry, I was argeeing with you. I think some of his columns are very good. I even enjoy some of them re: sports I hate which is a great sign. On a par with some of Humphries' good earlier stuff, like his (TH's) piece about the Munster Hurling Final.

Ah, I was wondering about the random 'This.'

OT, but I enjoyed his piece today on the Lance Armstrong/Paul Kimmage aggro. I don't give two hoots about cycling, but I picked up on the story through a thread in the cycling forum earlier in the week, and ended up looking at the youtube clips, and lo an behold Duggan is writing about it on Saturday.:D

Latchy

ziggy wrote: »

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Great footballer ,leaves a lot to be desired as a human being /up his own arse . Just my opinion .

he talks some nonsense.

he's bitter at being a failure as a manager.

LuckyLloyd

Play nice people, thanks.

besty

I'm Roy's biggest fan as a player/captain but to be honest those comments re; Clive Clarke are not on and leave alot to be desired. I think his bullishness may hinder him in future as it makes him a very difficult character to work with. I know this is probably the way SAF operates but I think he's learned to temper his, eh, temper when needs be. I'm not sure Roy can switch on and off like that.

eirebhoy

Adamcp898 wrote: »

Cue the whole of Ireland to take Keane's side and Sunderland to lose the other half of their irish support* :pac:

*Apologies to the few real Sunderland supporters for the generalisation

The full Irish "support" (ie interest) in Sunderland left when Keane left.

jellybaby21

Shocked about those comments on Clive Clarke, there was no need for them. He and his family didn't need to hear something like that. As a former pro footballer himself and a family man, Roy should've known better.

Any respect I ever had for him now is gone.:mad:

monkey9

For what he said about Clive Clarke, Roy Keane can go and f*ck himself quite frankly. He's a joke of a human being!!!
Always had a lot of time for what he said about things, but he's just turning into a bitter egocentric that is playing up to an image he's created of being some sort of footabller with integrity and with the right attitude towards the game.
Football is better off without Roy Keane!

Jazzy

monkey9 wrote: »

Football is better off without Roy Keane!

no way in hell

Requiem4adream

monkey9 wrote: »

For what he said about Clive Clarke, Roy Keane can go and f*ck himself quite frankly. He's a joke of a human being!!!
Always had a lot of time for what he said about things, but he's just turning into a bitter egocentric that is playing up to an image he's created of being some sort of footabller with integrity and with the right attitude towards the game.
Football is better off without Roy Keane!

Ehhh....The 1st part of that quote "i'm surprised he has one...." is Keanes dry humour. Not to everyones liking but it is humour. The 2nd part "clown" is the fact he clearly cant stand Clarke for whatever reason. Just because someone you dislike has a heart attack doesn't make you suddenly like them.

As for the rest of the interview - how many employers key priority is to make sure people come to work with a smile on their face? They want to ensure a comfortable working environment to increase productivity but as Keane says at the end of the day you are being paid to do a job. Footballers are paid handsomely, looked after really well. He's right, he shouldn't be overly concerned with it.

At the end of the day, i dont think he really gives a fcuk about anything. If any of us were millionaires working in a job we didnt need to work in and felt it was becoming hassle, we'd jack it in too for an easy life.

stovelid

Football really is becoming sanitised if a bit of unrehearsed gallows humour like that has everybody up in arms. Let's keep a little perspective here.

BaZmO*

Requiem4adream wrote: »

Ehhh....The 1st part of that quote "i'm surprised he has one...." is Keanes dry humour. Not to everyones liking but it is humour. The 2nd part "clown" is the fact he clearly cant stand Clarke for whatever reason. Just because someone you dislike has a heart attack doesn't make you suddenly like them.

I think the reason is quite clear if you read the piece.

super_furry

Same old story - everyone's to blame but Roy.

Maybe if he didn't spunk away vast amounts of money on dross, he'd still be in a job. Can't see any major club being daft enough to take a gamble on him and his ego again.

Iang87

whats this tripe about the clarke comment if anything its a compliment.
He more or less said he was a ruthless player without using those words, thats not a bad thing.

He used a bit of humour to lighten a moment that needed to be lightened, so to call him a disgrace of a person is absolutely ridiculous.

So what if he doesn't like Clive Clarke he's entitled not to like him, just cause the man had a heart attack doesn't make you like him so its a joke to say he was wrong to say what he did. As for the saying that about a fellow professional part just cos they're footballers doesn't mean they all have to get on or like each other. Does every solicitor, accountant, journalist or actor like one another?

super_furry

Iang87 wrote: »

whats this tripe about the clarke comment if anything its a compliment.
He more or less said he was a ruthless player without using those words, thats not a bad thing.

I think he's more implying that he doesn't have the heart of a top-footballer, no courage, bollocks etc.

Either way, I wouldn't get wound up in that Clarke thing, it's just a throw-away line in a whitewash piece that will only fuel the ego of Keane.

Iang87

super_furry wrote: »

I think he's more implying that he doesn't have the heart of a top-footballer, no courage, bollocks etc.

Either way, I wouldn't get wound up in that Clarke thing, it's just a throw-away line in a whitewash piece that will only fuel the ego of Keane.

Well if thats what he meant about clarke thats fair enough too, he's entitled to an opinion.

Its not an ego fuelled piece though he clearly states on a number of occasions that he made mistakes too. Cant imagine someone with an unbelievable ego admitting error

claiva

Roy made that comment before but it was not reported as there were more newsworthy stories around at the time. Big deal......he doesn't like the guy. I think its quite funny actually. Its not exactly a Billy Connolly Ken Bigley joke now is it ?

Roy is human. Roy made and will continue to make mistakes. So what !
The measure of the man is that every word he utters initiates debate like this. Love him or hate him he is an enigmatic personality who captures the attention of both sides of the love him hate him divide.

Personally I love him, but I definitely think the Sunderland exit strategy was not great and I do think it will be a while before we see him manage a top team in the Premier League. This time last year, I'd have said we could see him manage a top 6 team within a couple of years. Now I think it will be more like 6-8 years away.

Quint

It looks like Keane can't handle the politics of football.
But in fairness, leaving because he "didn't like the tone" of a call from his boss, after having your phone off, and ignoring calls that they made is mental.

super_furry

Dunphy's on Newstalk right now about it. Calls Keane self-centred, selfish and blind.

BaZmO*

super_furry wrote: »

Dunphy's on Newstalk right now about it. Calls Keane self-centred, selfish and blind.

The big baby. That's just because he won't answer his calls anymore.

Dunphy just embarrasses himself over the way he goes on about Keane.

claiva

Quint wrote: »

It looks like Keane can't handle the politics of football.
But in fairness, leaving because he "didn't like the tone" of a call from his boss, after having your phone off, and ignoring calls that they made is mental.

have to agree. you can't ignore calls from the guy that pays your wages. no matter who you are.

Spud83

claiva wrote: »

have to agree. you can't ignore calls from the guy that pays your wages. no matter who you are.

Jesus don't tell my boss that. I ignore his calls all the time.

jellybaby21

After reading all the comments I still can't see how any of you can justify the comments Keane made about Clarkey.
I live in his hometown, a small village, and the whole place is outraged at his comments, as am I.

Yes he is entitled to his opinions, everyone is.
But there is no need for a comment like that especially when the lad nearly died.

Kirnsy

i reckon keane loves the bit of contraversy when he 'speaks his mind'.

like the haaland incident retold in the book.sensationalism at its finest.

he's a great man(ager) but he's made great mistakes too.

shane86

super_furry wrote: »

Dunphy's on Newstalk right now about it. Calls Keane self-centred, selfish and blind.

Woah!

I dont read his column on the reg, Im in work when Newstalk is on and therefore my only dose of Eamo genius is internationals/ CL.

Theyve fallen out badly? Since when? I remember a while back Eamo said he made some bad buys, when did it get vicious?

kryogen

directed to whoever said he was bitter at being a failure as a manager, that staement is just ridiculous tbh.... you should probably re evaluate your definitions of success and failure

He wasnt as bad in the transfer market as people like to make out

He signed 40 players as Sunderland manager in a time when they needed a major overhaul and, in all honest, as many bodies as possible to keep them up in the premier league...he sold 44 players...

Liverpool fans have long defended Benitez policy of quantity over quality when necessary, i think the same principle applies here

the scouting network at Sunderland was non existent when he took over, he had no knowledge of the transfer market himself other then from the player side which is controlled alot by the agent

He made his mistakes and his successes with plenty of media coverage as is inevitable with him, and his high profile probably hindered his development tbh

But you would have to remember this was his first job as a manager, he had to learn everything as he went along while trying to live up to certain expectations from the media,public,and probably himself. im sure that isnt easy

it is the team that he assembled thats doing well now in the league, the players he signed that are pushing them up the table

how that can mean he is rubbish in the transfer market beggers belief

its hard to persuade top quality players to join Sunderland i can only assume, but he was improving the quality on the pitch overall with his transfer dealings as time went on

Cisse and Jones(early signing) and Malbranque are unquestionably better quality then Connoly,Stokes and Miller

he was improving the team with the personnel he signed, that is a fact

im wish he hadnt left the way he did, but it is his way, if he doesnt think it can work he holds true to his instinct, sometimes to his downfall imo, but it is part and parcel of the man

He will benefit from the experience and hopefully will make it as a top level manager one day

bigstar

the only thing i took form this interview is that players are overpaid and dont really care about their football, not all players but some/a lot. everything else was myth building, and the funniest thing was that hed be happy to manage in the championship again. well why wouldnt you be roy?