Sunderland promoted

[Declan]

Would certainly not mind Evans getting to stay under his watch for a while longer

He's a very impressive young player alright. Very strong and composed on the ball as well

[lurganblue]

From the Indo...

Keane casts a magic spell      
Tuesday May 1st 2007   


There has been no rage, just a simple mantra to players: give everything you have
IT may be 48 hours old now, but the triumph of Roy Keane at Sunderland was so clean, so classic, so rich in his potential for a future among the football managers of the ages, that the angst and the self-advertisements of, say, the perennially attention-seeking Sam Allardyce should not divert us prematurely from its weight or its style.
Especially - in an age when so many managers, from Jose Mourinho down, seem to spend many of their waking hours making the case for themselves - the style.
So far, at least, Keane's footwork in the training ground, on the touchline and while walking into the great maw of football publicity, has been faultless. It has mocked those fears - not shared here, incidentally - that by now his post-playing career would already be resembling the burned-out hulk of some mis-directed vehicle of war.
OK, so he had a bit of prior: 11 sendings-off, his leadership of a mob of Manchester United players chasing down referee Andy D'Urso sending out the blood-chilling message that football might just be on the brink of anarchy, the requirement of Alex Ferguson to visit him in a police cell after one particularly riotous night out, his callously premeditated, vengeful tackle on Alf Inge Haaland, the Saipan explosion in the face of the Republic of Ireland coach, Mick McCarthy, and, finally, the uncompromising attack on what he believed was the lack commitment of some of his Old Trafford team-mates.
Controversy
No, maybe these were not the antecedents of one of football's true statesmen, but Niall Quinn, the man who brought him to Sunderland despite being branded Mother Teresa when they collided in that World Cup controversy, was astute enough to project the often violent force of Roy Keane into a different context. It was the context of responsibility.
Of being able to shape the men and the events surrounding him. Of running a team not necessarily in his own image but sharing his own deepest values about how the game should be played and with what degree of commitment.
Quinn concluded with brilliant prescience that we would see a different Roy Keane; we would see arguably the most influential and dominating player in the history of the Premiership applying all the lessons he had learned under two of the most inspired managers the game has ever seen, Brian Clough and Ferguson.
Conclusion
Correctly, Quinn came to the conclusion that behind the singularly arrogant image, there was indeed a man with both the intelligence and the character to learn his lessons. It was important to examine the effects of his behaviour on both himself and his team. D'Urso, the victim of the outrageous mob scene, quickly became a witness for Keane's defence.
He said that the United captain had expressed his regret and proved this with subsequently impeccable behaviour.
At Sunderland all kinds of explosions were anticipated when Keane found that the players under his command had neither his talent nor his rage to win.
There were no detonations. Just decisions, a whole series of them which revealed an ability to balance the talent of a player and his willingness to give the best of himself.
Noting his old team-mate Dwight Yorke's impressive performances for Trinidad & Tobago in last summer's World Cup, and maybe recognising an imperative in the veteran to make some final statement about a career which often veered between brilliant success and dire controversy, he saw a suitable investment in both talent and desire.
A firm hand, plainly, has been accompanied by a streak of practicality. Recently, he left three of his players behind when they were slow to board the team bus to travel to a game, but the point had been certainly made and, he made clear, needed no further recrimination.
All kinds of tests will face Keane in his first season in the Premiership, and it would be absurd to suggest that his career is already made and that it now merely awaits the call from Old Trafford when Ferguson finally decides he has done all that is required in assuaging his own need for success.
Keane will face new pressures, new tests, in the top flight and he will be examined against the old truth that it is only in the difficult times that you get the true measure of a football man. But, then, maybe Keane has already provided some imperishable examples of his response to the toughest of challenges.
Now, when his old club team visit Italy defending the narrowest of leads tomorrow, who can forget his response in Turin when Juventus looked like sending United crashing out while the treble dream was gaining momentum?
Keane's performance, his refusal to let Juventus pass into a final denied him by a booking sustained at the height of the action, was for some hard judges the single most outstanding competitive effort they had ever seen.
Confidence
Such achievement, you have to believe, now lies at the heart of Roy Keane's success as a manager.
It underpins his confidence - and cannot but affect the reaction of all those he chooses to represent him on the field.
Whatever other strengths he brings to the challenges that now await him with that special pressure which comes to those who have already excited the highest expectations, there is one that stands alone and without flaw.
It is that nobody needs to be told what he did - and what he can always reasonably demand of all who play for him.
It is simply to give everything they have.
James Lawton



The bollocks...!     

[charlie stubbs]

cant respect keane at all sold his country down the river

[realredhandfan]

I see Canavan in conjuction with Niall Quinn took Kildare over to Sunderland to meet Keano before their last Sunderland game as part of a team training weekend.

[realredhandfan]

I also heard on the grapevine that if Keane left Sunderland next year to go to manchester united that the FAI have lined up  Steve Staunton for his immediate replacement. 

[stephenite]

Isn't time a great healer all the same. Who'd have thought it Roy calling Mick pure class

Isn't it just Declan, this reminded me of an article in the Observer that was publsihed around the same time as his book -

I asked him if he has bumped into Mick McCarthy since. Even the idea seems to appal him.

'Nah. And I hope I don't. I'd tell him where to go. I wouldn't go out of my way to, but if he was passing, like.'

So you wouldn't, I ask, half jokingly, sit down and have a pint now? There is no humour, though, in Keane's reply. Instead his face clouds over, and his voice is filled with contempt.

'Not in a million years. I hope I don't come across as bitter and twisted but that man can rot in hell for all I care. I don't feel any guilt about saying that at all because he deserves it. He deserves it. f**k him. f**king tosser.'


http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,783484,00.html

[Declan]

SUNDERLAND SNUB PROMOTION PARTY

Sunderland have declined an invitation to celebrate their promotion with a parade through the city.

While Wearside has been in raptures since the club's return to the Barclays Premiership was confirmed by Derby's defeat at Crystal Palace on Sunday, manager Roy Keane has tried to keep a lid on things.

The Black Cats head for relegated Luton on Sunday knowing victory, coupled with anything less for Coca-Cola Championship leaders Birmingham against Preston will hand them the title for the fourth time in 11 years.

However, chairman Niall Quinn, with the full agreement of Keane, has politely declined the offer of an open-top bus parade through the city and a civic reception whatever happens at the weekend.

In a club statement, he said: "Naturally, we are delighted that the club will be playing its football in the Premiership next season.

"Roy, the staff and players have done a tremendous job taking the club back to the top flight at the first time of asking and of course our fans have played a huge part in the season's success.

"We are immensely grateful to the City Council for their very kind offer of a civic reception and parade.

"However, we feel this is only the beginning of our journey. Everyone is rightly proud of the team, but we feel that we have simply got the club back to where we should be - back among football's elite.

"We recognise that there is still a long way to go and it has therefore been decided, with the agreement of Roy Keane, to graciously decline the City Council's offer.

"We hope fans will understand our reasons for this and don't think we are spoiling the party.

"This is a statement of our intent - we are not content with what has been achieved so far, and this is when the hard work really starts.

"Top-flight football benefits not only the club, but the city as a whole and we all agree it is where Sunderland belongs.

"Everyone is now focusing on next season and beyond and striving to achieve sustained success for our football club, with the continued backing and support of the city and our fans."

Mick McCarthy's victorious troops did parade their trophy two years ago, but 12 months later, slid out of the top flight having collected a record low 15 points.

Sunderland City Council leader, Councillor Bob Symonds, said: "We are very proud of what the chairman, the board, the manager and the team have achieved this season to get Sunderland back into the Premiership.

"We know the people of the city would like to show their appreciation, but we completely understand the club's view and look forward to the future in the Premiership.

"In the meantime, we thank the club for putting the smile back on so many football fans' faces in the city."

[Declan]

KEANE EYES TITLE TRIUMPH

Sunderland's promotion heroes will miss out on the chance to cap their season with the Coca-Cola Championship title if they have partied too hard.

A day after the club announced it had politely declined the offer of an open-top bus parade through the city and a civic reception to mark their return to the Barclays Premiership, manager Roy Keane has warned his players the time to enjoy themselves has not yet arrived.

The Black Cats head for relegated Luton on Sunday knowing victory at Kenilworth Road coupled with anything less for Birmingham against Preston will hand them their fourth Championship success in 11 years.

However, Keane insists anyone who has over-indulged since promotion was confirmed last weekend will not be involved.

He said: "We want to finish the season on a high and I will be disappointed if we do not win the game.

"But that will be my job over the next few days, watching lads in training because you find people who maybe get a bit carried away with a little bit of success.

"If players do that at this football club, especially with the game on Sunday, they will not play, they will not travel.

"I find making decisions like that very easy. I will watch players, I will watch their body language in training, who is preparing well, who is doing the warm-ups properly, who is listening to the points we are trying to get across.

"In this walk of life, some people do party maybe too much after a little bit of success. Those lads will not play on Sunday.

"There is a time to enjoy it - and I think the players have enjoyed that in the last one or two days.

"But in training over the next few days, they need to get focused for Sunday.

"I am pretty sure one or two players will take their eye off the ball - it is human nature - and they are the one or two who will not play.

"If you ask any player if they could win a championship on Sunday, they will all want to play."

Keane picked up seven Premiership titles and four FA Cup winner's medals during his time as a player at Manchester United, and is desperate for the men who have worked so hard to fashion such a remarkable fightback to finish with a tangible reward for their efforts.

However, his determination to win at Luton stems from a much more fundamental need.

He said: "It would be nice to finish the season off, it would be nice for the players to get something, to get a medal.

"I feel we deserve it - Birmingham obviously will have their own plans, but it would be nice to finish it off.

"But no matter what happens at Birmingham, we want to win the final game and finish on a high.

"We do not want to wake up on Monday morning after a defeat or a draw, we want to win the game and if that is enough to clinch the Championship, then well and good.

"If not, you still want to win the game of football. No matter where you are, if you lose, it still hurts.

"And that will be the same for Luton, of course, they will want to finish on a high."