Keano - who WAGS the dogs?

[Mentalman]

Keane launches Wag culture tirade
Keane has struggled to bring in his top targets this summer
Sunderland boss Roy Keane has hit out at "weak" Premier League players for allowing their wives and girlfriends (Wags) to dictate their careers.
The former Manchester United captain has been frustrated in his attempts to lure players to Wearside this summer.

He said: "These so-called big stars are people we are supposed to be looking up to. Well they are weak and soft.

"If they don't want to come because their wife wants to go shopping in London it's a sad state of affairs."

Keane has spent nearly £30m on new players this summer but has seen several of his top targets spurn a move to the north-east.

The newly promoted club finished bottom of the league with a record low of 15 points the last time they were promoted to the top flight.

And they are again one of the favourites to be relegated this season.

But Keane feels overbearing wives and girlfriends are to blame for Sunderland's difficulties in attracting top players and feels the current generation of players need to get their priorities in order.

He added: "I can understand the attraction of people wanting to go to London - if you are talking about Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham.

"If people want to go somewhere else to another football club then fair enough, as long as it is for a footballing reason.

"But there are players going to clubs in London simply because it is London. To me, that is wrong.

"It is not a football move, it is a lifestyle move and those are the type of people you don't want at your club. It is not a problem for me but it is a fact.

"To me, that player is weak because his wife runs his life.

"That happens at the big clubs as well. I could name four big players and clearly their wives and girlfriends are running their lives because they are doing these photoshoots and that kind of stuff.

"They say they are not comfortable doing it and are being dragged along. Well don't do it."

Joanna Taylor-Murphy, wife of Tottenham and former England midfielder Danny Murphy, disagreed with Keane's comments.

The actress told Radio 5live: "I think he (Keane) is wrong.

"Sometimes players maybe use the wives as an excuse, but in my experience I don't know any players that would let their wives dictate.

"If Danny had two moves on the cards, and one was near the shops and one was somewhere else where the shops weren't so good, but that was where Danny really wanted to go to I can assure you that's where we would be going."

The straight-talking Keane has hit the headlines in the past for tirades against both Manchester United fans, who he labelled the prawn sandwich brigade, and the club's underperforming players.

He left Old Trafford for a brief spell at Celtic after an outburst aimed at some United players on the club's television channel.

But Keane's fierce determination and dedication to the game made him one of the most successful players in the history of English football.

He revealed: "A couple of years ago I nearly went to Juventus. People spoke to me about Turin and told me Milan would be a nicer place to go.

"I told them I wasn't going for the shops, I am going because it is Juventus.

"If there is nothing to do then find something to do. Someone once told me that people who are bored are boring.

"People who get bored coming to the north-east are bored because they are boring. It is nothing to do with the shops.

"Maybe it is because I am not a great shopper but football has got to be a priority.

"You don't need to live in Manchester or London to be happy. You don't need to be surrounded by expensive shops or fancy cars.

"We have had one or two players this year and their wives are clearly part of the package.

"We had one player this summer who didn't even have the courtesy to call us back because his wife wanted to move to London - and shopping was mentioned."

Meanwhile, Keane, whose side take on Birmingham on Wednesday, says he is hopeful of getting in two more players before the transfer deadline closes on 31 August.

He said: "When I first got the job at Sunderland there were one or two players who I felt were not really up to the job, or not 100% focused or were focusing on a contract at another club.

"But I have got the feeling with the squad I am building here that when the whistle goes they will give 100%. That is no guarantee to win a football match but that is all I am asking.

"I am very pleased with the players we have got in but I do believe we need two more players to help the squad."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/teams/s/sunderland/6947333.stm

[small white mayoman]

at least we know who wears the trousers in the keane household

[The Real Laoislad]

Sounds to me like Keane is sore that some players didn't believe all the hype surrounding Sunderland and decided they be better off elsewhere.Maybe these players had children to consider and that should be their first priority not football
Keane was a great player and has the makings of a great manager but i think he comes out with utter shite sometimes

[his holiness nb]

Sounds to me like Keane is sore that some players didn't believe all the hype surrounding Sunderland and decided they be better off elsewhere.Maybe these players had children to consider and that should be their first priority not football
Keane was a great player and has the makings of a great manager but i think he comes out with utter shite sometimes

Probably a tad sexist too, the man should be boss and decide where they live or they are weak etc etc

[Deal_Me_In]

Sounds to me like Keane is sore that some players didn't believe all the hype surrounding Sunderland and decided they be better off elsewhere.Maybe these players had children to consider and that should be their first priority not football
Keane was a great player and has the makings of a great manager but i think he comes out with utter shite sometimes

Probably a tad sexist too, the man should be boss and decide where they live or they are weak etc etc

If the man is a professional footballer and his wife is not working and living of his earnings them i think it is totally his decision where he applied his trade. If the wife is working i think you have to take a different approach.

[Balboa]

Sounds to me like Keane is sore that some players didn't believe all the hype surrounding Sunderland and decided they be better off elsewhere.Maybe these players had children to consider and that should be their first priority not football
Keane was a great player and has the makings of a great manager but i think he comes out with utter shite sometimes

Probably a tad sexist too, the man should be boss and decide where they live or they are weak etc etc

If the man is a professional footballer and his wife is not working and living of his earnings them i think it is totally his decision where he applied his trade. If the wife is working i think you have to take a different approach.

I dont think there are too many footballers wives working down in the local taxi rank, if they do work it is ususally trading off the footballers name ie Rooney & Gerrard.

[his holiness nb]

If the man is a professional footballer and his wife is not working and living of his earnings them i think it is totally his decision where he applied his trade. If the wife is working i think you have to take a different approach.

I'd tend to disagree on some fronts, if the wife has kids at home and minds them full time then it would be a joint decision.
Bearing in mind basic familiy decisions like where is a better place to raise your children etc.

Its not like these players have no choice as to where they play.

[The Real Laoislad]

If the man is a professional footballer and his wife is not working and living of his earnings them i think it is totally his decision where he applied his trade. If the wife is working i think you have to take a different approach.

I'd tend to disagree on some fronts, if the wife has kids at home and minds them full time then it would be a joint decision.
Bearing in mind basic familiy decisions like where is a better place to raise your children etc.

Its not like these players have no choice as to where they play.

Would have to agree with his holiness...As i said i just think Keane is sour that not everyone worships the ground he walks on and decided not to buy into the Sunderland hype

[Deal_Me_In]

If the man is a professional footballer and his wife is not working and living of his earnings them i think it is totally his decision where he applied his trade. If the wife is working i think you have to take a different approach.

I'd tend to disagree on some fronts, if the wife has kids at home and minds them full time then it would be a joint decision.
Bearing in mind basic familiy decisions like where is a better place to raise your children etc.

Its not like these players have no choice as to where they play.

I would agree if there is children involved  then this would have to be a huge consderation but in reality how many have this as a consideration??

[his holiness nb]

Fucked if I know 

[ONeill]

Was thinking the other day that there's no way the likes of Mido would sign for Keane. I'd say some players would fear for their comfort. Mido has probably looked at Southgate and sees a soft touch.

[inisceithleann]

A major factor in players not going has to be the town of Sunderland itself. Despite recent modernisation it's hardly Manchester or London when it comes to things to do. Plus its bloody freezing up there

[Mentalman]

Was thinking the other day that there's no way the likes of Mido would sign for Keane. I'd say some players would fear for their comfort. Mido has probably looked at Southgate and sees a soft touch.

Nail on head.

A lot of these guys would not take kindly to Keane's style of management, and indeed he wouldn't take to them either.

The story that illustrated that the most to me related to the little known "roasting" incident that involved 4 of his players. Every single one of them has since "left" the club. No outbursts, no moral outrage, no media glare, the guys were dispatched quietly, and it's not as if they were all donkeys, one of them was the then England U21 keeper. He only wants players who really want to play for Sunderland, and realise how privileged they are. It also showed a certain amount of business acumen, to have made a big deal of getting shut of the players would have led to a fire sale or even free transfers. Instead somebody else bought Sunderland's troubles.

I don't know if it will work out for him, I imagine he will have to mellow and "compromise" with time, but as always he'll be able to say he did it his way.

[lynchbhoy]

prob a bit of a psychological game Keane is playing with future potential purchases

cannot now refuse to come up in case they think Keane will destroy their image by thinking he might tell the press that they didnt go because they were weak, under the thumb from the girlfriend/wife etc

every little trick keane will use, straight out of the alex ferguson 'how to use the media' tactic book

[Mentalman]

prob a bit of a psychological game Keane is playing with future potential purchases

Definitely a bit of that LB. It also increases the siege mentality within the club, and the feeling that his players "belong" and have the "right stuff"

Was listening to Newstalk106 last, they had an author on who wrote "Sunderland: A Club Transformed", Jonathan Wilson. Sounds interesting, if suffering from a little bit of psycho-babble.  But he made the point that Keane refers back more to Clough than Fergie. Perhpas because Sunderland's situation is more analogous to Forest than Utd. - unfashioable regional club with a big following. One way or the other, talk about learning at the feet of the masters?