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How To Say Farewell
Hi m8. Soz, dcd 2 rsgn. Prsr gttng 2 mch tbh. L8ers, Ry.
My mate Niall forwarded this text to me yesterday afternoon. Not sure what it means.
Mort Snort, Saints
Keane Wasn't Equipped To Be A Manager
There will be many people over here in Ireland feeling a certain sense of schadenfreude at the recent turn of events at the Stadium of Light.
As soon as he was appointed Sunderland manager almost all football pundits and media commentators in this country have acted as his personal cheerleadering squad, stating that Roy Keane represented a 'new' Ireland devoid of an inferiority complex, a man unwilling to stand for second best and that anybody who questioned this notion was a fool. Well I'm afraid the evidence says otherwise. It's important to note that no one pushed him out of the club, he walked away He quit. And if he can't make it at Sunderland where, for a first time manager he had unprecedented support both financial and otherwise, then where is he going to make it? Keane should have shown more fight like Gary Megson perhaps. Is his voluntary resignation not a tacit admission from Keane that he just isn't cut out to be a manager?
I can't believe he didn't have the balls to bring Sunderland to his old stomping ground, or that he gave Eamonn Dunphy the satisfaction of being proved right. He would have done better staying on a bit longer and even seeing out his contract, making a decent squad of players into a decent team.
Any comparison with Bryan Robson is ill-informed. Instead Keane's fondness for the cheque-book and aversion to relegation struggles marks him out as the new Keegan, while his inability to understand why other players don't possess the same ability as he once did bears comparison with Glenn Hoddle. Keane has just proved he's not got the right stuff to make it as a manager. He just doesn't have the necessary mentality to cope when things start going wrong. To motivate players when they're down, to turn around a losing streak, you need a bit more in your locker than a hard stare and a glittering playing career.
Personally I think the inability to deal with periods of failure or imperfections in others ( and also in himself) is at the root of this. He always projects an intense, hard man persona, but as soon as the media and/or fans criticised him in the slightest, he got in a huff and went marching into the woods with the f**kin' dogs!
With Roy Keane it's always been a 'first is first, second is nowhere' mentality, which as a manager of a club that is unlikely to have trophies on their horizon was always going to be a problem in the long run.
Robert Vard
The New (But Worse) Keggy?
Given that Keane has left Sunderland, now seems a good time to recap. Takes over a club deep in the mire of the second tier, turns them around, gets promotion. So far, so Keegan. And while the first season back for Keane was an (albeit successful) relegation fight, Keegan guided Newcastle to fourth. And when Newcastle pushed on in subsequent seasons, Keane became disillusioned and has resigned.
The comparison may not be entirely fair as the Premier League has changed a great deal, but the fact remains that Keegan spent about £15 million net to take Newcastle up into the Champion League and almost to the League title, Keane spent considerably more to achieve considerably less.
Can anyone then explain to me why Keegan is regarded as a bit of a joke by most fans (not least in the F365 letters page), while Keane has been widely venerated?
Matt
Keano Is No Quitter
Roy Keane the quitter? Do I believe what I am reading in this god forsaken mailbox?
If he was such a man to walk out when things didn't go his way then he would have walked off the pitch after 30 mins in the Stadio delle Alpi in the semi-final in '99...he would have walked back up the tunnel in fear of Big Paddy V....and in that mode of thought he would have walked off the pitch every time Utd went one or two nil down...the fact was he didn't...the fact was he fought to the death. That's why he is a true Utd legend...adored by anyone, regardless of race or creed, who supports Utd.
The Saipan incident...that was personal. That was Mick v Roy...nothing more than that. Keane was right though...David Beckham had a trampoline to bounce on to heal his metatarsal...the Irish didn't have footballs. Is it so wrong to be proud of your nation? Is it so wrong to want to give your best?? Shoot me if it is.
The one thing that I have to concede is that Roy does possess is an unwilting nature for self-flagellation. At Utd he knew his hip was gone...he could have struggled on and became a Giggsy (coming off the bench for Darren Fletcher!!) but that is not the man...he walked because he was out of his depth...I was at OT when he returned for his testimonial...he returned like a Roman general...but the Fergie fallout ball*cks made a story...the angry Scot and Irishman being all crazy again. Anyone with a brain saw that.
At Celtic his body finally gave in...he walked....enough said. He left Cetlic in June '06 and was managing one of the biggest clubs in England by August '06. He had no managerial experience. He didn't do what most of these clowns do and go and take some 3rd Division team and achieve a mid table finish or get them relegated...he didn't, like most ex-pros, go and become someone's coach...no not Roy...straight in with the big boys. On will and drive he took Sunderland from bottom of the Championship to top of the league and ultimately the Premiership. I genuinely believe that this was achieved by nothing but his presence and by instilling an almost 'Royesque' self-belief in the players. A quitter would have never taken the job.
However, after 100 games, he was found out...he is not an experienced manager. When the novelty wore off it became apparent that he was trying to throw money at a problem that was there for all to see....managerial inexperience...tactical ineptitude. As Roy said himself the other day...its not about Roy Keane...it's about Sunderland Football Club. I truly think that he thought that he could not keep them up...I think he realised that he has been found out in the Premier League...he has become what he said he hates most...a bluffer...even Eamonn Dunphey spotted that!.
But sadly the journos won't see the wood for the trees...everyone who hated him as a player, out of nothing but jealousy, can make their comments....it makes a great story. The English fear this rugged Irish man because they don't understand him...and above all he's a crazy mick....if he was English the story wouldn't exist...Sarah Winterburn's article the other day put him on a par with Hannibal. Go look at his charity work Winty...oh but wait...that doesn't fit in with the story...
I for one am disappointed...I thought Roy Keane could do anything...walk on water...beat Zidane...slaughter the Scousers...beat Paddy V to a pulp...anything...
Now my ideal has been shattered... like a fool I thought he'd be managing Utd in two years...who needs Marty O'Neill...we have Roy...but alas...the Roy I regarded as superhuman is just the same as the rest of us...he can't do everything. Will he be a good manager or will he manage again??? I don't know if he will again because this may have scarred him to deeply...and therein lies the great tragedy in all of this. In going in too far too soon it may have robbed us of him forever...and love him or hate him...that will be a sad day for football.
But one thing is for certain...over 16 years as a footballer...I don't think you will find a single solitary soul who worked with him that would label him a quitter...not on your nelly.
A footballing legend....a managerial also-ran
Deco ("See the Wood") Lundy
Another Defence
Regarding the Keane, and Northampton story.So he gave the players loads of sh*t for being 1-0 down to a team of part timers and bakers. And this makes the News headlines? Dear god, that's not news. Poor Sunderland players can't take a giving out to. BooHoo. What pussies. Does anyone not remember that Alex Ferguson kicked a boot at David Beckhams head! Bollockings are common in football. It's a bad state of affairs that this behaviour has made the front page of the news. The world is gone PC mad.
Kieran Lynch, Cork
No, He Just Wasn't Good Enough
Is anyone else a bit tired of reading how Roy Keane walked away because he was disillusioned with the modern game etc etc. How about a different take on things? Maybe, just maybe, despite being a great player, he just isn't a very good manager who filled his team with cr*p signings and felt out of his comfort zone if targets didn't have Manchester United reserves, Celtic or Ireland on their CV.
Just maybe he's the modern day equivalent of Graeme Souness and the fact that he played for the media's favourite club doesn't actually mean that he did a good job and walked away simply because the trappings of 21st century football made his blood run cold. I'm sure he hasn't driven back to his run down semi on a Sunderland council estate in his battered old Ford Cortina for a start.
Jamie Henderson
It's A Cork Thing
Gussy from Cork's mail yesterday was a typical mail from anyone from Cork. As far as they are concerned, the sun shines out of Keane's arse and he never, ever does wrong. I actually once had a guy from Cork argue with me that Keane's tackle on Haaland was justified and he shouldn't even have gotten a booking for it - even though Keane was standing over Haaland spewing fire and brimstone.
Lets be up front and honest here. No one can question his achievements at United. The guy set standards so high that not even he could attain to. Credit where it is due, he has brought Sunderland from the Championship and has them now in the Premier League, okay they have had a bad run of results but one win would more or less put them in Mid table status. I think it's a bit rich to say that after spending the guts of £70m that you can't bring them any further! This is what football and life is about - you take each experience as it comes and if you make a mistake, you change things do it differently and next time, you don't make the same mistake again. Keane is in a position where the standards he sets are so high and if others can't reach them and ultimately he can't reach them, then he's off - so he can save face.
I think Roy needs to look inwards first before doing anything else. Setting high standards as a captain or manager is one thing but you have to be willing to put the work in and stand shoulder to shoulder with people when the going gets tough - you don't need to start thinking "woe is me, its not going right." A degree of realism is required here and we all need to recognise Keane for exactly what he is - personally selfish.
Wait for the Cork backlash from this one!!!
JD (Irish Gooner)
Something Different: Berbatov Is The New Veron
Just a thought - when Man Utd won the treble with arguably our strongest squad in the past 40 years, Fergie went out and spent £28 million on Veron. Fergie then tried various formations (Scholes up front, on the left?!) to fit him into the team and united went into decline for two seasons. Yorke and Cole, a 50-goal partnership were sold off and Veron failed miserably before being offloaded to Chelski at a £10 million loss. Great player as Berbatov is, no one should be guaranteed their place in the team.
After Tevez's performance last night, did United really need to buy Berbatov, and is fergie just tinkering out of boredom? Yes we needed a third striker, not just for cover but to create competition for places. We also needed a new left back as cover for Evra and a solution to the right-back issue. United had scored one goal in four games before yesterday, and who steps up and does the business? Time for Fergie to pick the players in form, and scoring goals, before we lose the services of Tevez (a loan signing remember) for good.
Rob M, Manchester
