It’s been another busy old week or so in the life of Roy Keane. It kicked off in style with a charge of improper conduct by the FA, following Keane’s clash with referee Martin Atkinson and subsequent rubbishing of their increasingly devalued ‘Respect’ campaign.
A string of controversial, headline-grabbing statements have since kept the Sunderland’s manager firmly in the spotlight, even when the performances of his expensively-assembled team have been distinctly average.
And ‘average’ is the word which the driven Corkman detests the most – closely followed by ‘mediocrity’ and then, presumably, ‘discretion’.
In an era of ‘celebrity’ managers – when TV cameras pan straight to the triumphant/red-faced/passive gaffer following a wonder-goal/concession of a last-minute equaliser; compensation fees for managerial ‘transfers’ climb ever higher; and every result (whether positive or negative) is attributed solely to the input of the boss – Roy Keane has become a prime illustration of the trend.
His current club, now swathed in the kind of mediocrity for which he famously admonished it in his book, are rarely, if ever, the main thrust of any major story. Instead it is Keane – and his propensity to start a row with anyone and anything short of the rubber plant on his office desk – that keeps the press corps in clover day-in, day-out.
Following Sunderland’s recent defeat to Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium, Keane damned not only the lame efforts of his players, but also his own “below average” contribution to proceedings. “And I don't want to be average,” seethed Keane.
He continued: “I should have been braver. If you want to be successful there is risk involved. Ultimately I have to be critical of myself and I always am, whether it be team selection, tactics, whatever. The bottom line is that I got it wrong.”
But, as if to prove he’s not all about merciless self-flagellation, Keane reserved his fair share of ire for several other quarters in another well-publicised interview last weekend.
The steely-eyed Irishman has long been renowned for giving the shortest of shrift to – amongst others – corporate sandwich-munchers; incompetent match officials; and, above all; professional football’s contingent of ‘bluffers’ and ‘clowns’ (see Messrs Mick McCarthy and Jack Warner). Oh, and blond, journeyman Norwegian defenders. Never really cared for that particular breed either, come to think of it.
This time round, though, it was the massed ranks of dim-witted TV pundits that Keane laid into with fearsome relish. Prompted by a Sky Sports reporter to add his considerable voice to the tiresome Wenger vs Pulis media knockabout, the Black Cats’ boss instead let rip with a bitter (but entirely agreeable) broadside about the shabby state of sports broadcasting and the all-pervading influence certain quarters of the fourth estate have on the modern game. With glorious predictability, he wasn’t coy in naming names.
“I certainly don't see myself being in management (that long) because of the media side of it, particularly Sky Sports,” Keane said.
“The debate about Arsene Wenger: How crazy is that? What that man's done for the game - and we're giving these people air time. I wouldn't listen to these people in the pub, and yet they're on television constantly, ex-players, ex-referees getting interviewed giving out their opinions.
“Will Arsene Wenger be remembered in 25, 50, 100 years' time for what he has done for football? Bet your life he will. Will any of these people on the television be remembered for what they've achieved? None whatsoever.
“I wouldn't trust these people to walk my dog.”
Keane has it exactly right here – I wouldn’t even leave my pet hamster in the care of the likes of smarmy (yet strangely ubiquitous) Graham Poll or dull-as-ditchwater Nigel Winterburn (freely interchangeable with Merson, Le Saux, Shearer...).
He was far from finished there though:
“I was asked by ITV to do the Celtic-Man U game, but never again unless I fall on hard times. I'd rather go to the dentist.
“You're sitting there with people like Richard Keys and they're trying to sell something that's not there. I tell people any time they watch a game to switch the commentators off, don't listen to experts, gather your own opinion.”
So there’s no denying the malice he bears for the media. Yet, paradoxically, Keane stands in clear danger of becoming the Premier League’s premier rent-a-quote – that’s if he hasn’t already. Ghost-writer of Keane’s revelatory autobiography and one-time Keano confidante, Eamonn Dunphy, recently highlighted this trend. In the absence of the Special One, it seems the ex-Manchester United hardman has assumed the mantle of English football’s antagoniser-in-chief.
He will – privately, of course – have the backing of many other managers for his latest tirade. In fact, Keane is generally well-liked among the fraternity. Not that he cares (or so he’d have you believe).
Old sparring partner Tony Adams even came out before his side’s victory over Sunderland to say that his new-found pal Roy is a “very intelligent, courteous and respectful” man.
Keane took the time to send Adams a congratulatory fax when the ex-Arsenal man was appointed Portsmouth manager last month. It was clearly a much appreciated gesture:
“I thank him for his support” said Adams. “In my experience of Roy he is a fantastic coach, gets involved and has a drive there that I identify with. He wants to do things right and is very determined.”
These are the undeniable qualities Keane shares with – perhaps even derived from – his brilliant mentor, Brian Clough. Like Cloughie before him, Keane knows full well that he’s great value for those – the journalists – he so professes to loathe. It still remains to be seen if Keane will ever come within even a country mile of replicating Ol’ Big Head’s stellar achievements in management. He must be given time, of course.
But it’s a landscape far, far removed from that of Clough’s era – player power, billion-pound telly deals, and an all-consuming sports media are all part and parcel of the crazy, hedonistic swirl of the Premier League today. To progress further in his new career, Keane might occasionally find need to bite his tongue before once more bemoaning the excesses of the modern pro. After all, the grand master of this managerial lark, Fergie, seems to restrain his obvious contempt for the playboy lifestyles of some of his stars, so long as they perform both on the training ground and on the pitch.
Keane will continue to rail against all of the ills in the modern game, of that we can be sure. For us, the fans, there’s plenty of entertainment to be had along the way.
Long term though; can Keano adapt and survive, or will he go muttering bitterly into the night about the ‘good old days’? For long-standing fans of the player, the man and the inimitable persona – a group in which I include myself – we can only hope that the man from Mayfield will grace the nation’s dugouts at least a little while longer.
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