Roy Keane

[The Mighty 890]

Has he gone too far?

Is he now becoming a negative influence on the Irish team?

Discuss.

[Katy Lied]

What a Prima Donna? Unbelievable - we do need him though, unfortunately. Perhaps his Doctorate has gone to his head.

Anyone hear Gift Grub this morning - hit the nail on the head!

[John Fleming]

I suppose i would defend him! :)

There are a number of issues here:

First, the players don't have a problem with what happened. According to them, this kind of thing happens once a week at a training session. It is my opinion it is being blown up out of all proportion because it is Roy Keane and it's the World Cup.

Second, only quality reports (and on this story there've been few) have focused on the fact that it was less about what happened on the training ground and more about 'personal issues' and worry about his injury. Only after talking to family and friends did he decide to stay.

Third, it is well documented that Roy Keane has demons in his soul. He has been battling with them all his life.

Fourth, like all geniuses (remember Eric, Maradona, Best) , his way of dealing with everyday problems can be a little extreme. It's the price he, and we, have to pay.

Fifth, without Keane Ireland would NOT be in the Finals. Without Keane, they wouldn't have a hope of winning a game.

Katy, missed Gift Grub - hope it gets rerun on Sunday. But Roy Keane is a workhouse, certainly no prima donna!

[The Mighty 890]

Well it's an extraordinary article in the Irish Times today.

Keane is just so driven and one dimensional when it comes to his football. Obviously Ireland are still a third world country when it comes to organisation for these sort of tournaments. The FAI have to be held accountable here and in many ways I would agree with Keane. Just look at the millions of pounds that the FAI have made since 1988 and where has it got us? We have the oldest international rugby ground in the world as our national soccer stadium. It's creaking to the point of being on the verge of a disaster waiting to happen. It's quite clear that the fat cats in the FAI take the quick fix solution to everything (Bertiebowl, the current Saipan fiasco etc...). There's no doubt that there has been some investment at grassroots level and the tv coverage of the Eircom league has improved etc... but it's only just the tip of the iceberg.

So what of Keano? I think he battles many demons but also plays on a different plain to everyone else (at Utd. and for Ireland). While I would agree with much of what he says I do take exception to his timing. All that this can do is destroy the team morale and team spirit that Ireland has thrived on for so many years. There will be lads playing in the green shirt on 1st June that will be more scared of our no. 6 than any Cameroon player.

As Liam Brady said on the Last Word last night, Keane has been playing for Ireland for 10 years now, he knows the form, he knows what to expect. It's not going to change overnight.

If we had 11 Roy Keane's the World Cup would be sitting in the Mansion House. We don't, we never will and Keane should be long enough in the tooth to realise our limitations. With a lot of luck (no injuries, no suspensions, everyone playing to the peak of their ability etc...) we might expect to come out of our group, maybe get to the quarters but then it's just too much to think we can advance any further.

For what it's worth I think Keane is the most important player Ireland have ever had. He may not be the most stylish or skillful but he has proved his worth for 10 years now and should get the credit he deserves. I'll be sorry to see him retire, we'll take a long time to find anyone as influential but all things must pass and no one player is ever bigger than a team.

Have a blinder Roy, I hope you go out in style. :D

[Slicklink]

He was on Morning Ireland this morning in an interview with Gabriel Egan and he came accross as quite bloody sane and righteous. There are personal issues but that has not been helped by management confrontation within the irish team and accomodation issues in Saipan and the packie bonner incident was only the tip of the iceberg according to Roy.

He has unfortunately announced that the World Cup will be the last time playing for his country. He's also planning on knocking Friendly matches on the head.

He has an awful lot of pressure captaining on an international scale as well as with one of the biggest club in the world. Hardly surprising that the powderkeg exploded.

Personally I hope he reconsiders his intention to give up playing for his country (and from what he said this morning, Alex Ferguson persuaded him that the best action would be to play for his country, leaving other issues asside).

The FAI's supposed junkets and self luxury is typical and dont bloody help the sitaution either.

[Slicklink]

Whoops looks like the shit has hit the fan(s)!

Odd on Ireland having a new manager at the end of the summer ?

Unlayable

[KJ]

This is unbelievable!

Regardless of personal differances, you DON'T send your star player home. Keane always speaks his mind (when some say he should bite his lip) and he obviously had one too many rows with McCarthy over the past few days ............ but regardless - Mick should go after the finals. This was a wrong decision.

Put simply - Ireland are f*cked without Keane

Anyone else p*ssed off at this news?

KJ

[Happydude]

em yes
yes i am

[Guest]

I woke this morning and heard the Gerry Ryan Show with Eamonn, Gilesy and that reporter dude. Great radio. I taught that at last everone was looking beyond the tabloid headlines and getting to the crux of the matter. Im not a fan of Dunphys but he was excellent in making his points. Gilesy still sounds bitter to me. I taught to myself thank god hes not still the manager or Keano would be at home.

Then I heard the bombshell news. What country in there right mind sends there best player home after a few words? If Keano was expected to swallow his pride, why not Maccarthy? We have no chance of winning a game now.

What pissed me off most today is how everyone has now turned against him. We would'nt even be in the world cup if it was'nt for Keano for f&^%ks sake.

Next season hell be welcomed back to Old Trafford by suporters who love and respect him. Im not a Manu fan but credit where its due. Like Cantona they recognise talent and worship it, warts and all. Irish fans dont deserve him after what theyve been saying today.

[Guest]

Regardless of what sort of operation you're managing you simply cannot have one of your staff (team) undermining your authority they Keane has with Mick McCarthy. Roy acted like a Prima Donna complaining about the way the squad was training, the accomodation and various other things. He essentially told Mick that he was off if things weren't done his way. Mick met with him to try to calm the situation and Keane resorted to insults.

If Ireland are doomed now it's not Mick McCarthy who's to blame, but Roy Keane, perhaps someone should explain to him what "team" means. He may have been a key element in Ireland success but no one player is bigger than the team. Ireland have played, and won, plenty of games without Keane in the past and they will continue to do so.

Well done Mick.

[Slicklink]

Sorry Mike cant agree but I understand the "some people would kill to play for their country mentality", "he's disgraced his country" I also agree if it where say an Italian "prima donna" and he was sent home he'd be murdered.

At the end of the day, Keano is the captain and obviously sees a lot more than you and I, and obviously their have been certain shortfallings in the management by the FAI and Micks team at the camp, ie Training gear arriving 2 days late, the training pitch deteremental to the players, the fat cats in the FAI doing the usual no expense spared for themselves. Irelands first match IS ONLY one week away, and I wont second guess Roy's judgement that the team are not prepared enough. There are different levels of professionalism, Keano's is obviously pitched a little higher than others (I wonder if McCarthy was a little less laid back would it have helped). There is no doubting Roys ability on the pitch and if he says that the team arent ready for a world cup game then it shows his dedication. The fact that McCarthy hasnt taken on board a lot of the criticism from his captain and has turned it into a "I'm not taking this anymore" is unfortunate. The results from the first round will reflet that sadly as Keane is a solid midfielder, key motivator and strategic the team are built around him. For McCarthy to send him home is Stubborn, stupid and he will feel the brunt of it when we (hopefully not) come back fairly early from World Cup.

I really think that Keanes loss has infact lost us any chance of getting past the initial round, thats just my opinion.

I wonder if I'm alone, if it was put to the fans tommorow that between Keane and McCarthy one HAD to go. Which one do you think would watching from home ?

[KJ]

Found this on a "rant" list I'm on >>>>>>>>



"the real reason that Roy Keane wanted to go home from
the tournament was not because of a training ground argument but the fact that the English tabs are preparing to run a "kiss & tell" story on the married father of four.

It'll be in News Of The World on Sun. His wife told him to go back
to the World Cup because going home would not keep the marriage together. He's been shagging about for years. Latest girl claims that she is preggers"



Hmmmmmmmmmmm

Maybe it was a combination of factors


KJ

PS; The jokes have begun already ..............

"News just in that Roy Keane has been shot dead at Manchester airport

Carlsberg don't do contract killings, but if they did they'd be the best contract killings in the world"

:D

[KJ]

And it continues ............. ;)



This is a tale of the man called Roy, And how he filled our
> hearts with joy,
> Until the wankers in the FAI Booked a pitch that was completely
dry. A
> muscle tightened and a tendon stretched, Roy was livid, and
> the lads said
> 'Sketch!' Roy said "All credit to me at the end of the day,
> Me go in goal?
> Fuck, no way!" Roy had a go at Bonner and Kelly, Coz while
> the team was
> training, the keepers watched telly. There'd been bust-ups
> before, this
> wasn't the first, Meanwhile the players were dying of thirst.
> Cos the FAI
> made a deal for some energy drink, But they forgot to bring
> it, so what did
> Roy think? "You're some langer!" he screamed at Mick, While
> Duff explained
> to Jason that 'langer' meant pr**k. So Roy packed his bags
> and went to bed,
> To rest all the blood that rushed to his head. He said he'd
> go home, but
> would he really? Meanwhile Mick called up poor Colin Healy.
> "We need you
> Colin, pack your bag, You're in the squad coz Roy lost his
> rag." Roy rang
> Alex, who was at home in his gaff, And Alex said "Roy, you're
having a
> laugh!" "You're at the World Cup, the centre stage, Put a cork in
your
> murderous rage!" So Roy changed his mind and decided to stay,
> And told Mick
> it's cool, he just had a bad day. The next day Roy told his
> story in the
> papers, But Mick had enough of his captain's capers He called
> a meeting, and
> Jason got lost, And Roy was asked to explain to the boss.
> What it was that
> was getting him down, Roy's vein popped out, and he made that
frown.
> "Obviously as I said like, at the end of the day, I am the
> captain and I
> want my own way." "I want keepers to train, and I want a
> decent pitch, And a
> decent manager, you son-of-a-bitch!" Quinner, Kelly and Stan
> stood up tall,
> And said "Roy, you're not the only one who can kick a ball!"
> "And Roy said
> "I know, Duff can play too, And other Keane and Reid, but
> Christ look at
> you! You're has-beens, you're muppets who can't take the
> heat, And Quinn you
> can head, but don't you know you have feet?!" Mick said
> "That's it, you're
> taking the piss", As Jason arrived and said "Right, what did
> I miss?" Roy
> was not welcome, and told to go home, And in true FAI style, they
got
> RyanAir on the phone. There weren't any flights until the
> next day, So Roy
> went to bed while the whole country prayed. Please help us
> Jebus, Bertie and
> the Pope, Because without Roy in Japan, we haven't a hope.
>
>
>

[Katy Lied]

Hey Kelly.

Funnily enough I heard the above rumour from at least 3 different sources early afternoon yesterday No smoke without fire, eh? No wonder the poor lad has other things on his mind.

[The Mighty 890]

Let's get things into perspective here folks. Nobody has died!

A player of outstanding ability has been sent home from the world cup and the tournament will be poorer from an Irish point of view as a result.

The media hype is beyond belief in my view. Personally I'm gutted that Keane is gone but life goes on and the 22 remaining lads will just have to give it their all and represent their country with as much style, skill, good grace and dignity as possible.

The whole saga has been a sorry event. I blame the inept mandarins in Merrion Sq. more than anyone. I have sympathy for both Keane and McCarthy.

Keane has represented his country with distinction for the best part of 10 years. He is passionate, ruthless, determined and driven. Unfortunately he will never win any PR awards and his timing for the Tom Humphries article can best be described as unfortunate. He calls it as it is but Roy, there's a time and a place mate!!!

I do feel that there may be more going on in Keane's life than meets the eye. Lots of rumours abound regarding this Sunday's News of the World but frankly that's not our business. I couldn't care less if Keane has been up on half of Manchester as long as he performs on the pitch.

McCarthy has also represented his (?) country honourably for many years both as player and manager. He's brought a very limited bunch of players (particularly our defenders) out of arguably the toughest of all the groups to qualify for only our 3rd ever World Cup. He deserves enormous credit for this.

Unfortunately, they're both abrasive no-nonsense characters and it's been clear for some time that never the twain shall meet.

The whole thing is pathetic, annoying and ultimately a kick in the teeth for all Irish soccer fans.

But folks, ultimately life goes on!!! :)

Get behind the lads in green no matter what and let's enjoy it.

[John Fleming]

Someone said earlier that Manchester United fans will welcome him back. I guarantee it. At the first match at Old Trafford next season, the roar when he comes out will be heard all over Ireland - and i hope many of those who've spouted their ill-informed and tabloid derived ill-formed opinions over the past 24 hours will hang their heads in shame.

This may be selfish, but i for one am glad that Roy Keane will be fit and raring to go at the start of our season. The Irish don't deserve his talent.

To me, the facts are simple. Different personalities call for different man-management. Part of Mick McCarthy's job is to handle the myriad of personalities that he deals with and to get the best out of them. Based on how far this limited Ireland team have got -and how much of a role did our Keano play in that?- he does it well. But the personality clash between the two that has led to McCarthy dismissing Roy Keane tells me that he wasn't up to the task. Dismissing him was also a ridiculous thing to do. I believe the team meeting was set-up because McCarthy knew that Roy would not be able to contain himself. The outburst form the Captain, who, at the end of the day (as he might say), is there to voice his opinions should have been heard in private and attempts at reconciliation for the good of the team should have followed.

The history of football shows that only the best managers get the best out of their 'wayward' geniuses - and we've had a fair few at United, lets face it!

I wish the Republic of Ireland and (shock, horror!) England well in the tournament. But my main concern will be that any United players involved come home fit. Roy Keane was the biggest worry. That is now gone.

[Guest]

Here here. There is more to managing a team than winning football games.

[Guest]

I heard on the Jerry Ryan show this morning that when RK originally apologised for saying he was going home, the manager refused to accept it. It was only the intervention of others that allowed Roy to stay.

Then the manager was called a "fucking wanker" by RK. Anyone involved infootball has said this kind of thing goes on all the time and other teams in the world cup have also had personality clashes, btween players and players/managers.

WhAt a stupid position our world cup bid has been left in.

RK is (was) the captain. It is his job to speak up on behalf of the team, for the best of the team. This should be the managers job too. I propose that, by sending our biggest, and only hope, of winning a match home, the manager has failed in his responsibilitys and he should be the one on the plane.

RK should be not only reinstated as captain, but as acting manager.

Whenever Ireland are involved in the world cup, a lot of fools start speaking about soccer like theyve been following it all there lifes. It is them, not true soccer fans, who have spoken out against our captain. Real football fans just want RK back in the green jersey. It dosent look like that will happen and full-time match reports for our three group games are likely to start with the words "Ireland - nil"

[KJ]

Im sitting on the fence now re; Keane

On one side the FAI are a shambles. Cheap, aging b*stards who are only concerned with lining their own pockets and taking whatever VIP junket is going (Where has the all the money they've received gone to exactly??) As a top Premiership player Keane is used to a completely different standard. A 17 hour economy class plane trip followed by a shambles of a pitch and set up will get any captain's blood boiling

On the other; Keane shouldn't have said what he did to McCarthy on front of the team. A manager (in any field) should never be undermined by his staff. I also have a feeling Keane WANTED to come home ....... i.e. he forced Mick into sacking him cos Roy wants to face tomorrows News Of The World allegations full on and try and save his marriage. He can't do that if he's in Japan/Korea.

Also; John, with respect, how the hell can you (more or less) put Man United before your national team??!

KJ

;)

[John Fleming]

McCarthy deliberately set up that team meeting in order to get Keane to talk in front of everybody. The problems should have been discussed behind closed doors. Maybe a manager shouldn't be undermined, but Keane was made captain. A captain is there to speak his mind.

If there are revelations to come out in the Sunday papers, then everything will be put into perspective.

For me, it is not a question of putting United before anybody. The simple fact of the matter is United ARE my team and always have been. I grew up a Red, and i am first, foremost, indeed only a Red!

I've never understood how anybody can have more than one team because conflicts always arise! As a United supporter i don't need to tell you who i hate, and i can't suddenly like the likes of gary kelly because he is wearing an Irish jersey. By the same token, i especially do not understand how so many in this country can cheer on players in (say) United's colours one week, then unmercifully wish the same players harm and bad fortune when wearing England's colours the next. And with a copy of The (Irish - don't make me laugh) Sun under their arm. Then going home to watch a selection of English tv channels.

Nor do i understand how any Irish person can feel affinity with a national team that was only put on the map by an Englishman, and that best team that Ireland ever had was made up of a mixture of English and Scotsmen who, before receiving the call-up, had probably never even set foot in this country!

And i certainly cannot now feel affinity with a group of players who, if today's papers are to be believed, have turned against the one person without whom they would not even be in Japan. Some gratitude!

[Rig For Sale]

Look, the story is, Roy has knocked up some young one and she is in negotiations with the news rags in the UK to get the best deal for herself to tell it all.

When this breaks the pooh is really going to hit the fan, Roy with wife and four kids and all!

Imagine the state of the Irish squad if Roy was half way round the world when it breaks! What use would he be to anyone then !

Just wait for it to happen.....

[KJ]

Well.

The NOTW story turned out to be a load of cobblers. There's so many chinese whispers going around regarding Keane at the moment its hard to know what to believe.

I think I'm all talked out the subject to be honest. Let's just get behind the team on Saturday ........ after seeing Cameroon in action today against England I think Ireland will need all the support they can get

KJ

;)