Derby lost 2 - 0 to Crystal Palace goals by Clinton Morrison and Mark Kennedy ( I'd say Derby supporters are sick of the Irish this season.
This was Sunderland's winner yesterday and some goal it was too:
Sunderland goal (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1za-85YYgEE)
I don't like Roy Keane but in fairness that is some achievment to take them from rock bottom to being promoted fair play to Sunderland
Birmingham also promoted
great goal and Keano was, well very calm about it and Quinn was over the moon, great cant wait to see him back at Old Trafford
Congrats to Sunderland and indeed Birmingham for been promoted and a compliment to Roy Keane on the brilliant job he done with them.
Hard luck to Derby.
Fair play to both Quinn and Keane. No one could have predicted this last autumn. Quite an achievement for a rookie manager and the people who put their faith and their money in his obviously considerable ability.
ot it done, the premiership will be all the better for having Sunderland in it and Keane is amazing, they head hunted him for this job and Keane delivered in no time.
Whatr odds him taking over from ferguson in 2029 when he retires?????
he is still a ballix!
Look at the way they climbed the table over the season...
(http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42825000/gif/_42825367_sunderland_rise_416.gif)
i always like to see ex celtic players do well, so i'm delighted keane got them up. as for his 'great' work only next year will tell. derby were also at the bottom of the championship when roy came on the scene and they've done alright overall...
i dont get this obsession with "roy keane's sunderland". he took over and signed a raft of players, in fairness, it's a very average league and a lot of the players he signed are good for that league but won;t be up to premiership football. He's done a decent job but lets see how he gets on next year.
No one is saying that he is now among the all-time greats. Sunderland were a complete shambles when he took over. They'd already lost their first five league games! Yes, he bought some players and released others, but that in itself doesn't mean much if he can't mould them into a decent side. For a manager in his first ever job, he's done remarkably well. Only the most-blinkered anti-Keane or anti-United person could say otherwise.
Congratulations to Sunderland. Got to hand it to Roy, the man knows what he's doing. Pity he didn't go for the Ireland job.
I had a small wager at 15/2 when he took over that they would be promoted. Mister Power hasn't paid up yet.
Quote from: J70 on April 29, 2007, 05:49:58 PM
No one is saying that he is now among the all-time greats. Sunderland were a complete shambles when he took over. They'd already lost their first five league games! Yes, he bought some players and released others, but that in itself doesn't mean much if he can't mould them into a decent side. For a manager in his first ever job, he's done remarkably well. Only the most-blinkered anti-Keane or anti-United person could say otherwise.
Well actually someone was saying exactly that to me in the pub last night. That keane was now up there with slur alex.
yes he's done very well, i dont understand why all of a sudden our national media are all over division one results.
Well done to Keano - that team have definitely inherited his fighting spirit. Great character in them - Big Niall, Charlie Chalke & co will need to back him financially because unless he gets in a few decent defenders and a striker they will struggle badly next year. Still, the same was probably said about Reading ;)
Quote from: tayto on April 29, 2007, 07:04:43 PM
Quote from: J70 on April 29, 2007, 05:49:58 PM
No one is saying that he is now among the all-time greats. Sunderland were a complete shambles when he took over. They'd already lost their first five league games! Yes, he bought some players and released others, but that in itself doesn't mean much if he can't mould them into a decent side. For a manager in his first ever job, he's done remarkably well. Only the most-blinkered anti-Keane or anti-United person could say otherwise.
Well actually someone was saying exactly that to me in the pub last night. That keane was now up there with slur alex.
yes he's done very well, i dont understand why all of a sudden our national media are all over division one results.
One fellow in the pub comparing Keane's initial managerial accomplishments to the four decades of continuous success enjoyed by Ferguson hardly means that that is a view held by many or even a majority of people.
And not to state the bleeding obvious, but the fact that Niall Quinn and, especially, Roy Keane (who is one of the most successful and famous Irish sports people ever along with being a controversial and very interesting personality) are both involved is the obvious source of Irish interest in this story. Their roles in the events in and surrounding Saipan no doubt add to the fascination too.
Great achievement by any manager. They were 2nd bottom and the transfer window was closed. Fair play to him nobody could have done any more.
Quote from: J70 on April 29, 2007, 07:27:39 PM
Quote from: tayto on April 29, 2007, 07:04:43 PM
Quote from: J70 on April 29, 2007, 05:49:58 PM
No one is saying that he is now among the all-time greats. Sunderland were a complete shambles when he took over. They'd already lost their first five league games! Yes, he bought some players and released others, but that in itself doesn't mean much if he can't mould them into a decent side. For a manager in his first ever job, he's done remarkably well. Only the most-blinkered anti-Keane or anti-United person could say otherwise.
Well actually someone was saying exactly that to me in the pub last night. That keane was now up there with slur alex.
yes he's done very well, i dont understand why all of a sudden our national media are all over division one results.
One fellow in the pub comparing Keane's initial managerial accomplishments to the four decades of continuous success enjoyed by Ferguson hardly means that that is a view held by many or even a majority of people.
Where did i say it was a view held by the majority of people?
Yes he's done well, i just don't think it's deserving of the hype.
Was the transfer window closed? I'm pretty sure he spent some cash.
Quote from: tayto on April 29, 2007, 07:51:02 PM
Quote from: J70 on April 29, 2007, 07:27:39 PM
Quote from: tayto on April 29, 2007, 07:04:43 PM
Quote from: J70 on April 29, 2007, 05:49:58 PM
No one is saying that he is now among the all-time greats. Sunderland were a complete shambles when he took over. They'd already lost their first five league games! Yes, he bought some players and released others, but that in itself doesn't mean much if he can't mould them into a decent side. For a manager in his first ever job, he's done remarkably well. Only the most-blinkered anti-Keane or anti-United person could say otherwise.
Well actually someone was saying exactly that to me in the pub last night. That keane was now up there with slur alex.
yes he's done very well, i dont understand why all of a sudden our national media are all over division one results.
One fellow in the pub comparing Keane's initial managerial accomplishments to the four decades of continuous success enjoyed by Ferguson hardly means that that is a view held by many or even a majority of people.
Where did i say it was a view held by the majority of people?
Yes he's done well, i just don't think it's deserving of the hype.
Was the transfer window closed? I'm pretty sure he spent some cash.
My point was that one fellow saying something in a pub doesn't mean very much in terms of people talking about Keane already being among the great managers.
According to another post in this thread, Keane had a net loss of one million in his transfer dealings. If anything, that makes his accomplishment look even better.
Someone else told me he only had a net spend of 1 million.
I'm not anti-Keane, by the way, just anti-hype. You say it's becasue of siapan and the irish connection but McCarthy got Sunderland promoted with zero cash to spend, on transfers or wages, and it was barely mentioned in the national media.
I agree Keane has done a decent job but he hasnt turned water into wine, he's turned them around very quickly, by signing [7 players was it?] most of who are proven at this level.
For me the real challenge starts next year because the likes of Connolly and an aging Yorke won't cut it in the premiership. No doubt the same people who are over egging the promotion now will lambaste him if it goes wrong next year, whereas i'd be inclined to defend him if they go down next year, he probably could've done with abnother year in division one to properly rebuild.
If he keeps them up he'll be doing really well. The real challenge starts now and i do think he could go on to be a great manager in time.
Quote from: tayto on April 29, 2007, 08:52:05 PM
Someone else told me he only had a net spend of 1 million.
I'm not anti-Keane, by the way, just anti-hype. You say it's becasue of siapan and the irish connection but McCarthy got Sunderland promoted with zero cash to spend, on transfers or wages, and it was barely mentioned in the national media.
I agree Keane has done a decent job but he hasnt turned water into wine, he's turned them around very quickly, by signing [7 players was it?] most of who are proven at this level.
For me the real challenge starts next year because the likes of Connolly and an aging Yorke won't cut it in the premiership. No doubt the same people who are over egging the promotion now will lambaste him if it goes wrong next year, whereas i'd be inclined to defend him if they go down next year, he probably could've done with abnother year in division one to properly rebuild.
If he keeps them up he'll be doing really well. The real challenge starts now and i do think he could go on to be a great manager in time.
I agree completely about McCarthy. In my opinion, there were many Irish who didn't give him his due credit for what he did at Sunderland because of residual bitterness over Saipan.
Everyone, Keane especially, will be aware of the strengthening he will need to do to turn them into a premiership team. I don't see why the fact that he signed veteran and up-and-coming players from the likes of United should be held against him though. He was obviously astute enough to know the players he wanted, how to mould them into a team, and to get them playing the system and possessing the attitude that has taken them this far. There are lots of examples out there of teams who spent money and signed lots of good, even top-class, players, yet failed to find any degree of success. It would be interesting to see what the other teams in that division spent this season.
One other factor in the fascination with this story has to be the fact that many people predicted that this would all end in tears, given Keane's record of intolerance for unprofessionalism, both on the part of players and management, and his history of thinly-veiled public criticism of team-mates. Many doubted, or were at least somewhat skeptical, that he would have the patience and understanding for the job. He has, thus far, proven them wrong.
I would never have doubted his ability to make it as a manager. If you actually listen to what he says its simple but effective. Good, character and honesty can bring you a long, long way. Sure he needs to bring in exra quality for next season but if he spends as wisely as he has thus far Sunderland should at least stay up. He won't be bringing in fancy dan wankers with bad attitudes.
It has to be said that Niall Quinn is one shrewd hoor. He knows a thing or two about a tihng or two.
Roy's return to Old Trafford will be very special.
i hope mick mccarthys wolves can also make it up, he spilt his guts for ireland. you'd swear keano was the only irish manager in the championship reading the papers here...
Quote from: magickingdom on April 29, 2007, 10:37:42 PM
i hope mick mccarthys wolves can also make it up, he spilt his guts for ireland. you'd swear keano was the only irish manager in the championship reading the papers here...
I echo this sentiment, McCarthy did all he could for ireland, the saipan incident was not of his making and I would love to see him and keane going toe to toe as managers in the premiership.
Well done Keano! It shows him and Niall Quinn in a good light that thety were able to be professional and put past differences behind them.
Quotethe saipan incident was not of his making
Please. No one rise to this.
Keane has done a remarkable job in getting Sunderland promoted and playing good football as well. Poor championship though. McCarthy has also done well and it'd be great to see Wolves coming through the playoffs.
quote
"the saipan incident was not of his making"
"please no one rise to this"
what happened in saipan? ;)
Quote from: magickingdom on April 30, 2007, 10:49:08 AM
quote
"the saipan incident was not of his making"
"please no one rise to this"
what happened in saipan? ;)
Keane deserted his country when they needed him most ;)
QuoteKeane deserted his country when they needed him most
Cue Seanie!!!
Quote from: magickingdom on April 29, 2007, 10:37:42 PM
i hope mick mccarthys wolves can also make it up, he spilt his guts for ireland. you'd swear keano was the only irish manager in the championship reading the papers here...
Sure hes only a cnut from yorkshire..........limited ability both on and off the pitch.
QuoteCue Seanie!!!
Declan - I am stoically heeding your advice from earlier.
Legend
(http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/images/people/roymarc.jpg)
Quote from: Mid Mon on April 30, 2007, 01:42:50 PM
Legend
(http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/images/people/roymarc.jpg)
Marc Overmars was some player alright Mid Mon :)
Bensars:
"Sure hes only a cnut from yorkshire..........limited ability both on and off the pitch"
we'll see how roy rot does with the big boys next yesr.... ::)
Quotewe'll see how roy rot does with the big boys next yesr....
Are you very confident he'll do badly?
You seem very bitter magic ???
Think he will do considerably better than mick mc carthy did last year with sunderland.
Quote from: Bensars on April 30, 2007, 02:38:37 PM
You seem very bitter magic ???
Think he will do considerably better than mick mc carthy did last year with sunderland.
It'd be extremely hard to do worse in fairness. Well done Keano. Anyone know who Birmingham and Sunderland have in their last games? Still top of the league to play for...
Brum have Preston and Sunderland have Luton - both away. Could go either way yet.
Quote from: WeAreBlueWeAreWhite on April 30, 2007, 01:44:18 PM
Quote from: Mid Mon on April 30, 2007, 01:42:50 PM
Legend
(http://newsfeed.tcm.ie/images/people/roymarc.jpg)
Marc Overmars was some player alright Mid Mon :)
Indeed,Marc Overmars was a great player
Sumderlands home kit for next season
(http://www.acasports.co.uk/images/IrelandHomeFootballShirt.jpg)
Nah it will look more like this ;)
(http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m266/laoislad/LOUTH-1.jpg)
Quote from: Bensars on April 30, 2007, 02:38:37 PM
You seem very bitter magic ???
Think he will do considerably better than mick mc carthy did last year with sunderland.
och! thought the funny guy at the end would show i was taking the michael... ;D
Keane hopes to lure top players
Michael Walker
English Championship: Confident, assertive but without a trace of cockiness, Roy Keane rarely speaks without certainty. So it was yesterday that, 24 hours after Sunderland's promotion to the Premiership, the Irishman said: "We're not going up there with the mind-set that finishing fourth-bottom would be a good season. I hear that from many managers but, let me tell you, you won't be hearing it from me, far from it." No one argued.
Keane's encapsulation of the season was "it's a nice start" and, when asked if signings for next season would send out a message about Sunderland's ambition and determination, he replied: "Definitely."
Does he expect to have the problem previous managers have had, of attracting major players to Wearside? "No. Sunderland is a different football club now, we hope. There's a new chairman, new owners and a new manager. I'm hoping I can attract big players. I'm hoping we can add something to the Premiership, we're not just going up there with the attitude of hanging in there. The Premiership is where Sunderland should be."
Does he have names in his head of whom he may try to buy? "One or two." They may be defenders: Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson, two of the back four, belong to Manchester United and are going back there. One former United colleague, Michael Stewart, is training with Sunderland having fallen out with Hibernian.
What about contractual discussions? There have been suggestions Keane has been offered another two years on his three-year contract already. "I don't really get bogged down in that. There have been discussions but I'm quite relaxed about it. I tend to let my solicitor, Michael Kennedy, deal with that and he's very good."
Keane recalled the "madness" of his first couple of months, the "hectic" activity of trying to squeeze in transfers before the end of August, of how he and his assistant, Tony Loughlin, "hit a brick wall" around six or seven o'clock every night.
"Me and Tony, we were renting a house together, we were getting pulled left, right and centre, sorting so much out, everything. We were coming back and falling asleep. It was a mad, mad few months. We knew it would be like that, of course, we wanted to change a lot of things around the club. It was like a crash-course in management.
"I suppose that was the only way it was going to be, I wasn't going to come into a big job like this without the club having its difficulties. Those first two or three months in the job I wouldn't wish on anybody. Absolute madness."
Keane took time yesterday, as he has done consistently, to praise Loughlin and the rest of the backroom staff - "If you think it's all down to me, you're in cuckoo land" - but it is Keane who has set a tone from day one and it has been his refusal to accept that second-best will do. That measured belligerence is part of what has been seen over the past eight months and neither Luton nor Birmingham should be in doubt when Keane said Sunderland are going to Kenilworth Road on Sunday "to win". If they do, and Birmingham fail to at Preston, then Keane's team will be champions.
He said that an open-top bus parade through Wearside to celebrate is "not my cup of tea; I suppose I could drive", but he has enjoyed the new perspective on football he has been given by a season outside the top flight.
"The Championship has opened my eyes to lots of things; I was probably disrespectful to it as a player. But life isn't all about the Premiership, there are lots of good football people, good football, good fans and good clubs in the Championship. It's a pity the gap is so much, financially. And some of the managers I've dealt with have been pure class - David Jones at Cardiff, George Burley, Mick McCarthy. Mick gave a good, honest account of our match up here. Steve Cotterill on Friday night."
Each of those men remain focused on the Championship. For Keane and Sunderland a new episode elsewhere beckons.
Isn't time a great healer all the same. Who'd have thought it Roy calling Mick pure class
QuoteIsn't time a great healer all the same. Who'd have thought it Roy calling Mick pure class
Roy's obviously a bigger man than a lot of folk on here.
Quote from: magpie seanie on May 01, 2007, 09:02:24 AM
QuoteIsn't time a great healer all the same. Who'd have thought it Roy calling Mick pure class
Roy's obviously a bigger man than a lot of folk on here.
A bigger man than I thought.
I have to admit to being very impressed with him in recent months.
Would certainly not mind Evans getting to stay under his watch for a while longer.
QuoteWould 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
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...! ;)
cant respect keane at all sold his country down the river
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.
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.
Quote from: Declan on May 01, 2007, 07:45:24 AM
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 (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/osm/story/0,6903,783484,00.html)
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."
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."