Roy Keane... Going, going, gone.

Mountjoy Mugger

So, he ahd personal problems yesterday and wanted to go home. I fear it doesn't bode well for our chances in the tournament if that's going to be his attitude.

Maybe we'd be better off without him in that sort of mindset.

the celtic tiger

yeah, right. it wasn't on the news, or in the papers, so i assume it's a rumour that was spread by a website yesterday.

Mountjoy Mugger

It was all on Morning Ireland on the radio this morning. McCarthy was even interviewed on it.

Makaveli

McCarthy made a statement on Sky News, didnt see it just heard about it on Today FM this morning. Supposedly it's to do with him being injured and having personal problems, and nothing to do with a bust up with Packie Bonner.

Rabies

roy keane is to give a TV interview later on today.... no doubt he will make up excuses for his actions.... it was all over the news this morning....

joey D

keano needs to leave united, he's clearly spent too much time in the company of alex fergesun. his outburst, no matter what the real, if any, reasons behind it, was totally unnecessary and bad for team morale. what the f*ck is he playing at? it's high time he calmed down, we're not going to win the world cup, enough is enough keano, chill out man.

Borzoi

One thing's for sure, if he had pull that crap with Big Jack he would have been told to 'F off and don't come back'

Smacks of 'It's my ball and I'm going home'

OLDYELLAR

it made me sick when i heard it , well i used ta think keano was great , class player and all that , but after this little stunt i have lost all respect for the guy an i think he can run home and sulk or what ever , its hardly team behaviour what hes playing at now .and as mick mccarthy said"im gobsmacked"yes i am !

Clinical Waste

I always knew he was a wanker!

Send him home and make him pay all the costs (for his 1st class ticket, etc...)

jd

i dunno what happened, but the guy is a winner, and perhaps he felt that the training session was half assed. He doesn't like wasting his time..
Flame suit on

Mountjoy Mugger

Stick with the angling, JD. The baits you're using here aren't quite up to it.

jd

Originally posted by Mountjoy Mugger
Stick with the angling, JD. The baits you're using here aren't quite up to it.

LOL
There may be a germ of truth in what I said though..

uzami

I think it's a disgrace. Enough is enough McCarthy should cut his losses and let Keane go. This is demoralising for the rest of the squad.

Problems or not, this is just looks like a petulant, arrogant outburst.

gandalf

Ohh ffs its a storm in a teacup, nothing more. If he broke down in training with an injury you'd all be crying like babies here.

One phrase covers this story its a "SLOW NEWS DAY".

Put your knickers back on !!!!!

Gandalf.

Sevalis

OH so Roy Keane thinks that he is too good for Ireland.Just becouse he is on 50,000 a week he thinks he knows it all.I know that he is very good but he shouldnt let his personal problems get in the of Ireland success in the World Cup.

Xterminator

For gods sake.
Look at the ****e Paul McGrath used to pull!
The guy never and i mean never trained fully with the squad 'cause of his knees.
And I bet his blood alcohol levels would have been on a par with Tony Adams and Paul Merson for about 10 years!
He turned up when he felt like it!

But the guy gave his all on the pitch, and was revered (and his sins were forgiven) by the irish public.

Do your self a favour and Give Keano a break.
FFS what do you want from him ?

I think the guy is the best established star, most consistant performer, gets the best out of the guys around him, and is an integral part of our team setup.

Is that not enough?

So cut him some slack!

Would you like to see him retire from international football? Is that your agenda?

Kim Tae-Woo

Anyone one think, maybe he's just being honest!?

Keane needs to be strong and physical in his game.

He played shiitee in the Ireland Nigerian friendly gave the ball to Nigeria and left men unmarked to allow open shots at goal.


Keane needs to be strong and powerful against Cameroon.


Ireland have played well without Roy Keane.

If Keane has an injured knee then he's no good to Ireland!

Kim Tae-Woo

I knew that crrap about Packie and Keane was a tabloid lie.

Kim Tae-Woo

Ignore this story, I had a look at Skynews at lunch time. It seems this story broke because of a jealous English man working for the Belfast Telegraph. He wrote the same kind of thing in USA- 94.

If anything this story thrills me to know that we have a player of so much passion for the game in the squad.. I cant comment much but to say the guy hates losing and has a problem with his temper. It may have just been spur of the moment as keane can get very irrational at times. If anyone saw the bit with the table quiz in beyond the promised land you'd see roy keane in his prime and twud probably resemble yesterdays outburst.. I wont doubt for a second it means the world for keane to play in the world cup. He just felt he had to intimidate his teammates into pushing themselves a little bit extra. lay off the guy.

darthmise

Originally posted by uzami
I think it's a disgrace. Enough is enough McCarthy should cut his losses and let Keane go. This is demoralising for the rest of the squad.

Problems or not, this is just looks like a petulant, arrogant outburst.

And sending Your Captain home would be just the morale boost the Irish Team needs wouldn't it?!

FACT: He is the only Truly World Class Player we have and we need him.

McCarthy played it right anyway, when Keano made his outburst, Mick wasted no time and phoned Colin Healy and told him he was in the squad instead of keano. He called keanos bluff and it worked. Keane did a u-turn, apologised and said he wanted to stay. It'll take him down a peg or two, and embarrass him. He'll work twice as hard now cos he knows he was in the wrong.

Fear not my fellow country men, we will still win the World Cup!!

Keano, Keano!!!

Anyway, they tried to stick him in goal for training!! Muppetry!

joey D

Firstly, if the whole thing was made up, then why did I hear the voice of Mic McCarthy explaining how Keano tell him he was heading off home, only to change his mind after ringing someone (presumably his wife, who must have told him to act his fu<king age).
Secondly, Paul McGrath may have been a pisshead but he never threatened to walk out on the team at such a crucial stage.
Lastly, it may be a 'slow news day' but the incident did occur and you'd have to be blinded by naive jingoism to think that this isn't an unprofessional and stupid display by the Cork man, in short he went too far.
Should he be put back on the plane? Obviously Ireland would be losing their most influential player but to be honest the other lads must be pissed off with his behaviour. Maybe he's going through a second adolescence.

jonno

I agree with drathmise. He's the only world class player we have and we need him. So what if he had a bust up. That's because he's around that bo**ox Alex Ferguson so much. He's a leader and Ireland need him especially with such an inexperienced squad. Who in the current Irish squad could lead as well as him. He just wants to get the job done and not waste time.

I heard the reason was that Bonner wanted the keepers to have a break and not play in the training ground match. Bonner had them out training separately. What's the story with that? Would it not be better to have them trainign at the same time and involve them in whatever matches they have at training. Keane is the best player we have. He's the so whoever is saying he's a loose end should probably think about what ye are saying before saying it.

SheroN

Keane being the ultra pro he is, would no more about training than mick mc carthy and bonner put together!

Yerac

None of this Keane story surprises me at all. Aparently now claiming it was to do with a lack of (foot)balls for training.
No matter what the behind the scenes story it is an embarresment that our national captain would decide to go home just 10 days before they start.
It all brings me back to the away match in Iran where Keane mysteriously withdrew with a knee injury and later said that it wasn't bad enough to stop him playing.
I think these will be his last matches in a green shirt (if he even lasts till June 1.
I also think that the appropraite disciplinary action would be to strip him of the captaincy, sets a message to other players who may see that if you're considered world class you can do anything in McCarthy's squad.

jonno

Well who's going to be captain then. Quinn and Staunton won't be there for much longer and whenyou look for a captain it's usually in the long term.
So who are our candidates then There's one - Kinsella. Oh yeah and what is our midfield without Keano.

Dont be at yourself

Poor Healy.

Littletinyman

Well there's always Lee Carsley...

plastic membrane

Originally posted by Littletinyman
Well there's always Lee Carsley...

Don't even joke about that. I suppose its always been common knowledge that Keane is a bit of a twat, but the man is our best player, and we need him. Though he'll probably never play for Ireland again after the world cup..

Sand

Keane walked out and Keane returned. Whats gained from stripping him of his captaincy and basically driving him out of the team from pure spite at this "uppity arsehole thinking hes better than the rest". - newsflash, he is, by miles. Keano mightnt win personality of the year award but hes an incredible footballer and any team in the world would miss him, Ireland especially so seeing as we dont have all that many quality players let alone world class.

He was wrong to walk out but his frustration at club and national level have becoming more and more apparent over the last few years. Hes taken potshots at everyone from Uniteds "fans" to the FAI, in most cases rightly so. Hes a winner - hes a crap loser because he hates losing, and his knows hes only got 3 or 4 more years of quality football left in him so any failures only make him all the more frustrated, cos he knows he doesnt have time on his side.

These Keano outbursts have come and gone before, most noticeably when certain Ireland fans took to booing Keano at Ireland games cos their backpage shepards told them he didnt want to play for Ireland- hell play in this World Cup and beyond for several years yet. Just unfortunate this happened at all.

cournioni

Originally posted by tipp_Gunner
If anything this story thrills me to know that we have a player of so much passion for the game in the squad.. I cant comment much but to say the guy hates losing and has a problem with his temper. It may have just been spur of the moment as keane can get very irrational at times. If anyone saw the bit with the table quiz in beyond the promised land you'd see roy keane in his prime and twud probably resemble yesterdays outburst.. I wont doubt for a second it means the world for keane to play in the world cup. He just felt he had to intimidate his teammates into pushing themselves a little bit extra. lay off the guy.

Thats exactly what I was going to say... By the way, what were you doing watching "Beyond the Promised land" for? I know I wouldn't watch any Gooner movies!

jd

Originally posted by jd
i dunno what happened, but the guy is a winner, and perhaps he felt that the training session was half assed. He doesn't like wasting his time..
Flame suit on

Similar viewpoints in the Indo today (Irish Times isn't online as I write)

Driving himself over the edge for the beautiful game



THE BACKGROUND to Roy Keane's ferocious reaction to what he perceived as a slipshod practice session - and his threat to walk out of the World Cup - works against the suspicion that one of the world's most committed professional footballers has flipped clean off his head.


Keane shouted angrily at the Irish goalkeeper coach, Packie Bonner. He threw down a water bottle in disgust.


He stormed off to his room, intending to pack his bags for a long, grimly introverted flight home.


It was this World Cup's first authentic, high-octane story. It was the pressure swimming to the surface.


But the evidence is that it wasn't simply Roy Keane's crack-up.


It was Roy Keane's statement of all those difficult, passionate obsessions which have separated him so profoundly from most of his own generation of players.


Keane's friend and adviser, lawyer Michael Kennedy, yesterday talked Ireland's captain down from the volcano and back into the preparations for the opening game with Cameroon on 1 June, but he could not entirely dissipate the rage that has been building so inexorably over the last few weeks.


When Keane snapped in Japan on Tuesday it was not a sudden brainstorm.


It was the expression of that rage. For several days he had had a smouldering sense that the Irish party's mood was a little too much like that of a gathering of holidaymakers.


The requirement of outfield players to man the goals in a five-a-side practice was the final provocation.


The red mist came to Keane as it did on the Monday morning after his Manchester United team-mate Juan Sebastian Veron had made the sloppy error that brought defeat against Middlesbrough at Old Trafford and the team's loss of control of its own destiny in the Premiership race.


Keane, it was alleged, had to be dragged off the Argentinian.


On earlier occasions the Irishman had bitterly attacked the complacency of his Old Trafford team-mates and rounded on the club's lucrative executive-box customers.


Also simmering in Saipan was Keane's belief that he had been offered to the Irish media as a piece of raw meat after his failure to appear at Niall Quinn's testimonial game at Sunderland.


Keane, shattered by his failure to keep United in the title race, worried by nagging injury and drained by the extraordinary effort he had put into Ireland's qualifying bid, told the Irish coach, Mick McCarthy, that he would not be in Sunderland a week before the event.


But the news didn't break until the day of the game, the proceeds of which Quinn had long announced would go to children's hospitals.


Keane, who regularly visits children's hospitals, was branded as the man who had turned his back on sick children. At the heart of all this is the reality that the demands of modern football, however extravagant the rewards of it may seem to the public, can create unbearable pressure in certain situations.


Keane occupies one of those situations.


He is an obsessive over-achiever whose levels of performance and industry have been legendary for some years now.


When he flagellates himself so severely, inevitably he expects to see similar self-punishment being administered by team-mates and coaches.


When this doesn't happen - at least not to his satisfaction - a great tide of indignation is set in motion.


Keane's friend, the journalist and author and former Irish international Eamon Dunphy, says:


"Keane was already seething over the Sunderland business, and if the Irish set-up in Japan was as we have always known it, it is not hard to see him blowing a fuse."


"No pro ever asked more of himself than Roy Keane and at United he has got used to the highest professional standards."


"Worried by injuries, he has recently been travelling to France to see a top specialist at the advice of Laurent Blanc."


"So you can see how he would react to a situation which he considered wasn't right professionally so soon before he goes out to be judged again by the whole football world."


It is here that the professional pride of Keane comes into play so powerfully. Increasingly, he has become a loner at United and Ireland.


He has been driven on to his island by the force of his own ambition.


And for the point of self-discovery, and the firing of his huge commitment, we probably have to go back to the career-threatening injury of four and a half years ago. He acquired that in a hot-blooded attempt at a revenge tackle.


There had been other instances of indiscipline on and off the field, though they had been accompanied by fierce efforts on the field.


Now it was though Keane, in his mid-twenties, had grasped the fleeting nature of a footballer's run at the glory.


He saw, chillingly, how easily it could all be over.


So he has worked, slaved even, to get the most from himself and, by extension, his team-mates.


In Ireland there have been critical comparisons between Keane's absence from the Quinn testimonial and David Beckham's spectacular hosting of a celebrity party in aid of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, which have further opened up seriously smarting wounds.


One obvious difference between the players is that while Beckham is relaxed, indeed seems to enjoy the celebrity glare, Keane loathes it.


For him there are two realities, the pitch - and the family life to which he now retreats so intently.


The price he pays is what often appears to be no more than grudging recognition of the stunning professional values he has come to represent.


While Beckham was "rested" on the bench for six critical games in United's mid-season - partly, it was said, because of the draining requirements of England, Keane fought ferociously to keep the United side on course, while at the same time, and despite injury, almost carrying Ireland to the World Cup.


He fashioned the all-important goal scored by Jason McAteer against the Netherlands - and he scored a vital equaliser against Portugal.


But if the Cork man has feelings of patriotism, they are perhaps subservient to his awareness that it is in club football that he shapes the prospects of himself and his family.


And so, buried deep in the crisis which surely found its expression in Tuesday's emotional rampage, may well be Keane's own sense that maybe he has pushed himself to his very limits.


If he felt too exhausted mentally to make an appearance at Quinn's admirable feel-good festival, how well could he have recharged himself for a six- week stint at the highest level of the game?


Also, how heavily does he feel the weight of his responsibility to return United to their old levels of performance when he returns to preparation for next season just a few days after the end of the World Cup?


Keane's critics will no doubt say that this is the terrain of the modern footballer, the ground he has to cover to justify fabulous financial rewards.


But they miss the point of Keane's unique acceptance of those demands, his apparently unquenchable need to deliver something commensurate with the prizes on offer.


If the real story of Saipan is the crack-up of Roy Keane we do not have to look too deeply for the cause.


It is the anger of a man who may have outrun his own professional environment, simply burned it away with the force of his own need to be a winner.


Should this indeed be the case there are questions that need to be answered not just by one anguished player.


The whole game needs to answer one of them.


It concerns how it is that possibly the world's most motivated footballers should feel so alone, and so angry, on the eve of a World Cup?


Independent News Service.



James Lawton

zAbbo

Just heard that this morning (thursday) that Roy said he`s quitting after the cup

Is this whole training incident blown out of proportion or whats the story...

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2002/0523/2376533567HMP1SPECIAL.html

Mountjoy Mugger

I think Roy's finally flipped. Let him go, ffs. What's the point in having someone with such paranoia as Roy has, on the team?

The man needs to see a shrink.

KdjaCL

No matter how much we need on the pitch his lil rant likethis one is not helping off the pitch.
If he wants to whine let him go FFS.
Its on Sky News also.
Kdja

Dr. Dre

......before someone set this up

Keane

gandalf

It looks like its about the way the FAI organise things so I wouldn't be so quick to judge Roy lads.

I mean he has a very valid point regarding the lenght of the flight, the training facilities and the gear which didn't arrive for a couple of days. Most fans travelling out to Japan are spending a fortune and they should expect the FAI to organise the team professionally and with purpose which seems to be lacking if the reports in todays papers and websites are accurate.

Make no mistake not having Keane for the European Qualifiers is a big blow to Ireland.

Gandalf.

(Jesus I can't believe I stood up for a Scum player!!!):rolleyes:

zAbbo

In fairness to Roy i`ve heard about poor FAI organisation before and quite frankly Mick McCarthy should know all about it,
as in his biography(Captain Fantastic) he spoke of the poor conditions at Italia 90, and he was one of the ones who spoke out against the fact that the FAI top dogs had better accomodation that the players.

gandalf

Well then I think Roy is justified with his stance and any anger should be directed at the FAI instead of him.

Gandalf.

zAbbo

What was the reason to drag them out to some spik town that didn`t even have a proper football pitch, to apparently acclimitise.

This is not the way to prepare our Stars for what should be the proudest moment on the big stage.

Another FAI gaff I think.

gandalf

I would have assumed going to a training facility in Japan would have been ideal preparation for playing in Japan.

Fecking off to a Holiday Paradise island that had no recognised soccer facilities sounds more like someone in the FAI wanted a subsidised holiday than preparing for the WC.

How many non-playing or training staff from the FAI are out with the team I wonder?

Gandalf.

spanner_head

just checked bbc.co.uk and the guardian......

Keano has been reported to be sent home.

Taken from....

http://football.guardian.co.uk/
Roy Keane believed to have been sent home from World Cup by Ireland manager Mick McCarthy. More soon.

joey D

it's true! oh bollix.

DMC

and here...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport3/worldcup2002/hi/team_pages/rep_of_ireland/newsid_2003000/2003681.stm

Its not clear weather or not he is going home of his own choosing, or was pushed.

Rabies

and here on sky news

joey D

can't wait to see the evenig herald, they'll undoubtedly have a 16-page colour supplement and lots of completely inane tabloid horsesh*t.

DMC

The Herald will be pushing it, Joey if it wants to be in the last edition tonight!

gandalf

Well if this turns out to be true and it was the FAI that sent him home they will be receiving a very strongly worded email and letter from me.

Cameroon, Germany and Saudi Arabia must be delighted at this news. Ireland will be hard pressed to get into the 2nd round without Roy Keane.

Gandalf.

Borzoi

That's us screwed.

Hope they send him home to Manchester, and not here.

spanner_head

Originally posted by gandalf

Cameroon, Germany and Saudi Arabia must be delighted at this news. Ireland will be hard pressed to get into the 2nd round without Roy Keane.

Gandalf.

We'll be hard pressed to win a game now.

Quigs Snr

Well the whining biatch probably deserves to be sent home. I don't doubt for a second that he's right, that the FAI have screwed up. The FAI need to change their attitude and become more serious and professional in their dealings with the team.

However, and this is a big however, Roy was right to go public with his misgivings, but now was not the right time. Morale plays a huge role in any teams performace regardless of the sport. Roy's behaviour over the past few days may have been damaging to the squad it certainley wouldn't have helped us. At the end of the day we don't have an embarrasment of riches talent wise compared to other nations and it's our fighting spirit and teamwork that has gotten us this far. If we lose that we are only half the team. I fear roys absence aside and playing skills, we will now be damaged morale wise.

That said it's a tough situation for McCarthy. On the one hand (and it has been my experience of coaching and selecting teams myself albeit in a different sport), that you don't want one of your more influential players dissenting. It weakens your own position wether he's right or wrong, it's all the more pointless given that whats done is done, the right time to do this would have been to threaten them with retirement after the world cup. Bitching now serves no purpose.

On the other hand he is our best player and we are not the same team without him. On balance I would have given him a severe and public dressing down, and told him that it he thought he was such hot **** to get out there prove it and rub our noses in it. SHow us what we're missing. Essentially, money where your mouth is time.

Either way. Irelands world cup hopes have taken a huge setback.
Roy needs an kick in the ego I think. He's not just let himself down, he's left a country down. Granted, the FAI are bungling morons, their attitude has never been professional enough in relation to the irish team, no matter who we beat they revel in the underdog role, mostly as an excuse to treat the players like dirt. What experience have any of them got ?