Bring back Roy Keane

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The most successful captain in United's history: 7 Premier League titles in 12 seasons, including two league and FA Cup doubles and the treble season.

As Fergie once described Keane, "the heartbeat of Manchester United", "the driving force, the inspiration, the best reader of the game, the best talker of the game, the biggest winner", "the most influential player in the dressing room". I needn't go on - every United supporter I've met who witnessed those times knows the leadership and motivational qualities Keane brought to United.

It was during the darkest days of Van Gaal, following the debacle of Moyes, that I began to wonder, who is the closest match out there to the great man Fergie? That set me on a path of thought which, although at first seemed crazy (we all know the history), I'm now convinced is true - Keane is the most like-minded character to Ferguson of anyone.

So here is the first evidence that both Ferguson and Keane believe they have a shared character: -

"When I look at Roy Keane I often see myself, I equate this to his passion, desire and striving for perfection. He cares. He's a born winner."

~Alex Ferguson


"Roy has the wherewithal to be a top-class manager.

"Some people can’t make decisions. Roy can. He is a good decision maker. I spoke to him several times about being a manager and when he started to take his coaching badges I felt he was doing things in the right way.

"I always felt there was a bit of myself in Roy."

~Alex Ferguson (prior to United vs Sunderland)


"Me and Alex Ferguson, we had the same type of traits, of what Manchester United was about."

~Roy Keane​

I wanted to compare their character in more detail, to see if it really did match up, so I broke down the individual traits that I believe made Ferguson the manager he was: -

• Hunger and Winning Mentality
• Inspiration and Motivation
• Control and Discipline
• Fight and Aggression
• Respect and Fear
• Man-Management
• High Standards
• Opportunities to Youth
• Exciting/Attacking football

These are the most frequent descriptions of Ferguson I heard down the years from players, pundits, media and fans. I'm sure there's more that could be added but it gives a good overview of what Ferguson was about.

Following that, I wanted to know if Keane could really provide a match to each trait using the testimony of those who know him best; those who actually worked with Keane at United, Sunderland, Ipswich, Aston Villa and the Republic of Ireland. The following are intended to show Keane's character match to each of Ferguson's traits noted above: -


Hunger and a Winning Mentality:

"Keaney, just similar to the manager in his desire and hunger."

~Ryan Giggs


"Without question his obsession with winning, the demands he put on other players and his desire to win football matches made him the most influential player in the dressing room, no question."

~Alex Ferguson


"Ferguson and Keane are kindred spirits, and what he saw in Keane, I think was something he had in himself, which was his hunger, his appetite, his complete and utter single-minded desire to win."

~Andrew Longmore, Senior Sports Writer, Sunday Times​

Inspiration and Motivation:

"He was the most influential presence in the dressing room in the time we worked together. Roy took a lot of the onus off me in making sure the dressing room was operating at a high level of motivation."

~Alex Ferguson


"There have probably been more talented footballers in his position, but no one could match him for overall effect. He was a great presence at United, a man who could lift everyone around him. Even when you thought you were giving 100 per cent, he would somehow squeeze another 10 out of you."

~Gary Neville


"Roy is a great leader and can cajole team-mates into better performances."

~Phil Neville


"He was the manager on the football pitch. If you did something wrong you knew about it. He tried to get the best out of everyone to get a result for his team."

~Paul Scholes


"There are not many players I've played with who have the passion that he has, and the drive. He was one of the reasons why we were so successful at Manchester United, because of his drive. He made us better players and better people."

~David Beckham


"He’d lead my team and inspire them."

~Eric Cantona (after Keane's inclusion in his all time World XI)


"He (Keane) is the player that has the most influence in a dressing room that I have ever seen.

"I have been in many dressing rooms and with very important players but I remember reaching half time in games and it was only him that spoke, the one that made the speech.

"Sir Alex Ferguson was to one side and he (Keane) spoke. I am still profoundly affected by him."

~Gerard Pique​

Control and Discipline:

"If Roy Keane thought you weren't pulling your weight he would be right on top of you, straight away. Many players faced his wrath for committing that crime and there would be no place to hide from him.

"I never felt that was a bad aspect of his character."

~Alex Ferguson


"He would come down hard on me if I ever did anything wrong but he made me realise what it meant to be a Manchester United player. I can remember coming in from training one day and checking my mobile phone for text messages. Well, that was it. He absolutely hammered me, all the way into the gym.

"He was a great influence, really. If Roy had a go at you, he did it because he cared."

~Darren Fletcher


"But the really big thing Roy has done with the club is show the fans we had the right discipline and attitude … He signed three players in his first January transfer window and three weeks after that, they were late for the team bus for a game at Barnsley. Roy sent them home and played three youngsters instead.

"We won the game and everyone got the message."

~Niall Quinn, Sunderland Chairman

​

Fight and Aggression:

"Yes, we get the hairdryer from time to time but only when we really deserve it. He tells it like it is but certainly doesn’t rant and rave just for the sake of it."

~David Norris, Ipswich


"I've been on the receiving end of a few of his dressing-room tantrums, but he only did that when it was deserved, when the team hadn't performed. And, much as he could really dish it out, he was always very quick to praise you when you did well."

~Jack Colback, Sunderland/Ipswich


"People look at him and think he is an angry manager, but he gets the best out of players. He got the best out of me."

~Danny Higginbotham, Sunderland

​

Respect and Fear:

"I have a lot of respect for our old boss Roy.

"He was a nice man. He had a positive impact on every player at the club, he had an aura about him - he's Roy Keane!"

"Someone like that is always going to be missed. My game improved under him and it continues to – hopefully."

~Grant Leadbitter, Sunderland


"I think when he first came in everyone was a little bit on edge as you would be with Roy Keane. But as time has gone on he's fine to talk to. He's there for advice and he's a good coach. I think he's really enjoying it as well which is important."

~Seamus Coleman, Republic of Ireland


"He definitely comes across as being a little bit scarier on TV than he is in real life. Of course he doesn't come in singing and dancing in the morning! But he is a friendly man to speak to and very helpful if you have any questions."

~Eunan O'Kane, Republic of Ireland

​

Man-Management:

"Off the field as a captain he was amazing, especially to us young lads. He’d look after us with contracts and things like that.

"He used to pick me up occasionally for training and take me home.

"He was a really great guy and I cannot thank him enough for everything he did for me."

~ Luke Chadwick


"He was hard on me but he was always fair. If he spoke to me 10 times, nine were compliments. If I was late, Roy would let me know. If my passing wasn't on in training then Roy would let me know.

"People remember the controversial stories and the times he went mental. But the rest of the time he made me feel on top of the world.

"What about the story where I've been out for two months and Roy says loudly, ‘I am glad this lad's back. We have missed him’. That's not a great story. It's a better story to say, ‘Remember that time Roy nailed Fletch in the dressing room for looking at his phone’.

"That did happen, yeah. But it was rare and that was just about standards. It was his way of getting a message to everybody. That is what it was like at United.

"I just watched Roy and learned, but above all of that I just liked him. I still like him."

~Darren Fletcher


"Throughout that season I was very upset and I put on a lot of weight and I got bigger. But just before the end Roy took me into his office and we had a massive conversation.

"He inspired me to go away in the summer and come back in better shape than I had ever been in. I went and played very well the following season.

"He gave me some strong words of encouragement to go and do that and I will always appreciate it.

"A lot of people don’t know him on a personal level but he definitely has that side to him."

~Kieran Richardson, Sunderland


"Roy brings huge qualities. Roy’s got stature. He goes around the changing room speaking to players individually, just a few quiet words here and there.

"If something has to be said, Roy will say it. He’s got a calmness when he speaks to you but people know he has that fire inside as well so, if you’re not doing something, he’ll tell you. And players sometimes need that as well."

"Roy has a humorous side people might not see at times. He has a soft side – although I’d agree you don’t see it that often – and he does like a joke at the odd time too. Roy definitely has a sense of humour, he’s very switched on, very clever. You mustn’t underestimate Roy Keane."

~Shay Given, Republic of Ireland

​

High Standards:

"He (Keane) was our captain, he was our leader and he left a mark: where we are now is down to him, our dedication comes from the standards he set. The rules about time-keeping, about getting in a half-hour early, they were his instructions back in the day and those traditions continue."

~Darren Fletcher (four years after Keane's departure)


"He demands the standards of Manchester United and when people don't match those standards, he seems to have a problem."

~Jon Stead, Sunderland/Ipswich


"He demanded a lot from the players to give their all in training and hopefully that legacy will remain. He definitely came in and put it across that he wanted our standards to be high all the time."

~Alan Hutton, Aston Villa


"He's got some very high standards. It'll be a good boost to the team, because he demands excellence and I think he'll get it."

~Paul McShane, Republic of Ireland

​

Opportunities to Youth:

"I have always said in the past, Roy has been a huge part of me getting my chance as a footballer.

"He gave me my debut at Sunderland and had a huge impact over my career. So I have got a lot of thanks to him for that.

"I can never really repay him for that, he started my career as a professional footballer, I learnt a lot from him while I was at Sunderland.

"To work under him was amazing."

~Jordan Henderson, Sunderland


"Roy did come down pretty hard on a few of the others at Ipswich, but he was great to me.

"He told me to believe in my ability and, having played in the same position, he taught me a few things about the game which are really helping now. He was very good at building my confidence up."

~Jack Colback, Sunderland/Ipswich


“To be honest, at the beginning, I didn't even think Roy would like me because of the type of player I am. On the first day of training, I didn't start the session that well and he tapped me on the shoulder after a half an hour.

“He said: 'Are you alright?' and I replied 'yeah'. And then he asked me: 'When do you start training then?'

“That put me under pressure straight away then. He was only bantering but I wondered was he being a little bit serious here. However, Roy's been brilliant for me and we now get on great."

“Every time I'm around the squad, he's flooded me with confidence and he's one of the main reasons for my success. So I thank Roy for all his help.”

~Jack Grealish, Aston Villa

​

Exciting/Attacking football

“On my first day of training, he gave me an absolute rollocking for playing an easy square ball instead of looking to do something positive.

“I saw that day why United were winners and why Roy was at the heart of it.”

~Rio Ferdinand


“I heard a lot about the Championship before coming to Sunderland. I heard there was a lot of long-ball stuff. However, it has been easy for me to settle at Sunderland and in this league because of the football we play.

“It is like the football I have been playing coming through the youths and reserves at United. The boss wants us to play good football and he believes we can kill teams off by doing that. You can see where some of his influences are. It is an enjoyable brand of football. It is exciting to be at this club.”

~Danny Simpson, Sunderland


"We won't be clever and play on the counter-attack, we'd like to be on the front foot, that suits us better, going for it and trying to get the right result."

~Roy Keane (on upcoming World Cup playoff)​

The above testimony leaves no doubt that Keane shares those character traits of Ferguson to a large extent. Isn't that what United need back in the dressing room to inspire the players?

From that I came to wonder, why aren't we looking to make use of Keane's qualities? I wasn't alone...

Van Gaal would consider Roy Keane as his assistant

Roy Keane should be Manchester United boss after Louis van Gaal

Roy Keane in running to replace Louis van Gaal as Manchester United boss

Four Reasons Why Roy Keane Should Be The Next Manchester United Manager

Roy Keane – The next United manager?​

Most surprising of all, I found Ferguson was previously an advocate: -

"When I do move on I would like to see Roy Keane taking over.

"He is a leader on the pitch and he could be that kind of leader sitting on the United bench too."

~Alex Ferguson (6 months before Keane left United)
​

Perhaps Fergie got his successor right after all, before the mistake of picking Moyes for his Scottishness and shared background.

Obviously I'm talking Keane up as a managerial candidate and with the experience gained he's more than capable. However, I think he could also provide a positive influence on the team in the role of assistant-manager, similar to how he's working at Republic of Ireland. The point is getting that Ferguson/Keane mentality back into the club.

We can cycle through the CV managers like Van Gaal, Mourinho, Ancelotti, steeped in the history of other clubs, who bring their own style, with no real loyalty to United. Yet, if our aim is ever a manager who could revive the club culture that existed under Ferguson and be in it for the long run, who better a candidate than Roy Keane?

 

Inevitably Keane's previous record in management comes up. Didn't he do rubbish? Wasn't he relegated? Didn't he lose the dressing room? Wasn't he sacked at every club? I looked into these questions and found Keane had done better than the media would have us believe. Below is a breakdown by club: -


Sunderland

Keane took the managerial reins in 06/07, the season after Sunderland had been relegated with a record low points total. At the time he arrived, the club sat bottom of the Championship after suffering four consecutive losses and had been eliminated from the League Cup by Bury. It was a team of serial losers at their lowest point with only 5 wins in their previous 47 competitive games.

The adrenaline shot Keane gave was instant and dramatic. Sunderland won their next three games on the trot against West Brom, Derby and Leeds. The team climbed the table throughout the season going on a 17-game unbeaten run to eventually finish champions, overhauling Steve Bruce's Birmingham who spent more and had a 10 point head start, with Keane named Championship 'Manager of the Year'.

The following season, Keane continued to revamp the squad and met the club's target of securing their Premier League status with a 15th place finish, whilst the other two promoted clubs went straight back down. An additional highlight of the season was Sunderland's first home win against Newcastle in the Tyne-Wear derby in over 28 years.

In his third season, after 16 games, results were once again meeting the point per game target to secure Premier League survival. Although Sunderland sat 18th at the time of Keane's departure, they were level on points with Newcastle and Tottenham, only 2 points behind Manchester City. Results were not the issue – Ricky Sbragia (now back at United) took over, secured a worse points per game average than Keane and Sunderland still survived.

The reason Keane chose to leave Sunderland was due to the demands of Ellis Short, who had recently acquired the club, that he should move to the area and spend more time at the training ground. Keane did not like the interference and chose to leave despite the attempts of Niall Quinn, the club chairman, to convince him to stay.

"Roy deserves huge respect for his contribution and the manner in which he guided the club from the depths of the Championship back to the Premier League.

"His winning mentality and single-mindedness were just what this club needed when Drumaville (consortium) took over shortly before his arrival.

"Roy's decision to stand aside and allow someone else to take charge of the next chapter sums up his desire to always do what is best for the club.

"Even in his departure he has been more concerned for the welfare of the players and his staff than himself.

"The board has reluctantly accepted his decision and wish him and his family well for the future."

~Niall Quinn, Sunderland Chairman


"He has done fantastic for Sunderland.

"They were bottom of the Championship and he has taken them up and then elected to leave the club. I worked for him for two years and he was good. He was a good manager and he knew what he wanted."

~Ricky Sbragia, Sunderland manager (after Keane)


"But he took over the club when they were bottom of the Championship and then finished comfortably in the Premier League. That's not easy!

"I think sometimes his time at Sunderland is not given the credit for how well he actually did.

"People look at him and think he is an angry manager, but he gets the best out of players. He got the best out of me.

"I think he would be a great manager now given the opportunity, I really do think that."

~Danny Higginbotham, Sunderland​

From Championship relegation contenders to a stable Premier League side – Keane is not given the credit he deserves for this success. Indeed, the media set about painting another picture to sell their headlines which seems to be the residing image stuck with fans: -

Sunderland players celebrate after Roy Keane resigns

All based on an unnamed source. So the question is, how many players celebrated? Not those already quoted above who have much positive to say about Keane. Not any of these: -

"I have a lot of respect for our old boss Roy.

"He was a nice man. He had a positive impact on every player at the club, he had an aura about him - he's Roy Keane!

"Someone like that is always going to be missed. My game improved under him and it continues to – hopefully."

~Grant Leadbitter, Sunderland​

"He wants better things all the time and he is a great manager to have around you. He is always trying to get the best out of everyone and produce a great team.

"As a player, it has got to come from yourself, a bit of belief and a bit of drive and a bit of will to win. But the manager has a big influence on that. The lads are oozing with confidence now."
…
"Massive gratitude to Roy Keane for bringing me to such a fantastic football club. I have enjoyed every minute of it."

~Phil Bardsley, Sunderland


"One of his best features when he was a manager was that you always knew where you stood with him. It wasn't the case that he would keep anyone on board, he told you how it was. For a young player coming into the game, I enjoyed working with him."

~Anthony Stokes, Sunderland​

It also doesn't seem likely that Daryl Murphy, Jack Colback, Carlos Edwards or David Healy, players who all followed Keane from Sunderland to Ipswich, celebrated.

I've no doubt a hard task master like Keane was not everyone's favourite but the only evidence of him falling out with a player at Sunderland was Dwight Yorke after he went back on a promise to retire from international duty. Should that detract from what was a fantastic two and a half season tenure at Sunderland?

Not to the Sunderland fans who, following their own Moyes disaster, remember Keane as a hero and just a few weeks ago sang his name at the ground as they remembered better days.


Ipswich

This is the one that went wrong, isn't it? 15th in Keane's first season, sat 19th of 24 teams when he left the club the next season, fall outs with players, sacked. It's a poor record but let's look at this in context – it's Ipswich; a club that has not achieved anything since the days of Bobby Robson in the early 80s, either before or after Keane.

The first note is that the conditions to build a team were not there...

Keane could not get in the players he wanted due to a shortage of money (and because frankly no one wants to play for Ipswich). He could not get rid of the existing players he didn't want because they were rubbish and no one would take them.

Keane's two main strikers, Jon Walters and Jon Stead were sold against his will within days of one another right at the start of his second season. The Chairman didn't even speak to Keane about Stead – Keane was simply informed that he had been sold.

The previous season Keane asked for a player, and the Chairman, without going back to speak with Keane, paid four times as much as Keane valued him at. There was one instance where Keane asked for a player specifically on loan and the Chairman signed him on a permanent deal.

What was Keane supposed to do? He's a football manager, not a magician. Even then, at the time Keane left, Ipswich had more points than at the same stage of the previous season, showing some improvement and, until a tough run of fixtures, had been in and around the play off places. He had also led Ipswich to the League Cup semi-final (only their second cup semi-final appearance in 30+ years) which the team narrowly lost to Arsenal. Could he realistically have done any more in the season and a half he had?

Yes, Keane fell out with some players at Ipswich and that's what will grab the headlines, but we need to understand the circumstances behind it...

Pablo Counago is a prime example of an Ipswich player who slated Keane's management. This is a player who complained of Keane, "as a manager I think he is the kind of person that thought everyone had to play hard and run, and just do as much as you can". No **** you have to run you lazy ****, Pablo! Even his previous manager, Joe Royle, had said of Counago, "I saw Pablo score an outstanding goal last night but there are times when he seems to think that running is not in his contract." Laziness and a bad attitude will never sit well with Keano and nor should it with any manager worth their salt and that can lead to conflict.

How about Clive Clarke and Keane's much criticised tongue in cheek comment, "I'm surprised they found a heart". Yet no one mentions how Keane had phoned Clarke in hospital to wish him well or how Clarke had given an interview to a newspaper complaining Keane had kicked some chairs and didn't speak to him enough – never mind he was away from Ipswich on loan.

Still, there were more positive than negative comments from the players: -

"I said a while back that if I was chairman, I'd give him a go as a manager because I was impressed with him at Ipswich.

"I really enjoyed how he was with people. I was captain there and enjoyed it but then I wanted to go to the Premier League and he wanted me to stay so it wasn't going to be all cuddles or anything. When we met up, we had a laugh about it."

~Jon Walters, Ipswich


"People have got entirely the wrong idea about the gaffer. They remember him as a player, when he was all about winning, and they automatically think he must be a bit of a madman in the dressing room.

"I wish I could take some of our fans in there because they would be amazed at how he really is. Yes, we get the hairdryer from time to time but only when we really deserve it. He tells it like it is but certainly doesn’t rant and rave just for the sake of it. He is actually quite calm most of the time and he is brilliant at taking the pressure off the players.

"Far too much has been made of him falling out with certain players and moving them on. That happens at every club, just as players don’t always get on with other players all the time."

~David Norris, Ipswich​

"I think he will be more successful the higher up he is. He demands the standards of Manchester United and when people don't match those standards, he seems to have a problem. He needs to be working at a higher level to be successful. If he tries again in the Championship or possibly lower, I'm not sure he will get what he wants from the players."

~Jon Stead, Ipswich​

But didn't Keane say himself that he managed badly at Ipswich?

Yes he did, before the papers took it out of context to create their headline. Anyone who has read Keane's autobiography (where the quote came from) would know that Keane was referring not to his overall management performance but to a specific incident where he was too hard on a couple of his Irish players and admits he should have encouraged them more. So reflection on a lesson learnt should be the end of it.

In the end, Keane wasn't a success but he wasn't a disaster either. Which is pretty much the story of every manager there in recent history. What else did people expect at Ipswich?


Aston Villa

Keane was only assistant manager to Paul Lambert for 13 games before leaving to concentrate on his job with the Republic of Ireland. His time there was plagued with the usual media sensationalism about fallouts with Gabby Agbonlahor and Fabian Delph, but as at Ipswich there were more positive comments than negative which went largely unreported: -

"I was surprised Roy left. It was a shock. I had a good working relationship with him. You could always go and talk with him whenever you wanted.

"He demanded a lot from the players to give their all in training and hopefully that legacy will remain. He definitely came in and put it across that he wanted our standards to be high all the time.

"I got that. If you're training like that, then you're going to take that intensity into games and I understand why. It's only been a week or so since Roy left, but the lads are giving their all."

~Alan Hutton, Aston Villa


"Personally speaking he was fantastic for me. He always made me feel good and he always put in some good finishing sessions. I can’t speak highly enough of him and for me he was fantastic.

"If you want to improve as a player and get better you need people to tell you the truth. And he was definitely one for that.

"I think he got on with the players. I think what people most respected about him is that he told it as it was, to be fair.

"And if you weren’t playing well he would tell you. He wouldn’t hide from the fact and yeah as I said personally he was fantastic for me. I had a lot of contact with him on different aspects of the game and I’m sorry to see him go.

"Obviously we wish him all the best and hopefully he does well in whatever venture he does next."

~Darren Bent, Aston Villa


"The guy was great for me and great for everyone at the football club.

"So for me this is all absolute nonsense what has been written about him, absolute nonsense.

"There wasn’t even any bad words on anything and that is the disappointing thing. To use the word 'poisonous' as a headline is shocking.

"You can ask any member of staff what they thought of him. He has got a lot of commitments following the Irish national team so I have got nothing but thanks to Roy for coming in.

"The guy is run off his feet with Irish commitments. I respected that."

~Paul Lambert, Aston Villa manager​

It would be hard to judge Keane given the short time spent at Villa but but we can see there was plenty of positive.


Republic of Ireland

It is in his role as assistant manager to Martin O'Neil that Keane has excelled most since his Sunderland days. From defeating World Champions Germany to qualify for Euro 2016, to the victory over Italy to reach the knockout stage to the narrow defeat against the home nation France, Ireland have been punching above their weight. More recently Ireland defeated Wales in a winner take all game to reach the World Cup play off, the first leg of which takes place tonight against Denmark.

The best way to get across his impact with Ireland is through what the manager and players have been saying: -

"Bringing Roy Keane in is as good a decision as I've made in quite some time. He's been absolutely enormous for us. He's not taking too many of the accolades, but he's been fantastic for us, for myself, the backroom staff and the players."

~Martin O'Neill, Rep of Ireland manager


“Roy was buoyant. He reminded me that you can't get dispirited. He looked at the fixture list and said, 'We've got Gibraltar away, Georgia and Germany at home, we can win those.' We had enough games to turn it around. His positivity, I recognised it and felt it. I never feel Roy is anything else."

~Martin O'Neil, Rep of Ireland manager (credits Keanr for pep talk during Euro 16 qualifying)


“Around the floor here with the lads he sits in and he's a great laugh, he's very sharp, quick with his banter you know? Funny, very funny.

"He's probably the best player that's ever come out of Ireland, he's played at the biggest club at their best time, so he's obviously used to the best of the best and he wants to bring Ireland to that standard to compete, and he has brought an element of that with him.

“Tempo in training is a lot higher now and he wouldn't be afraid to stop it and pull out the people who aren't pulling their weight. He keeps everyone on their toes.”

~Shane Long, Rep of Ireland (credits Keano with raising Ireland's standards)


"If you don't have a burning desire to play after talking to Roy Keane, you're probably best off giving up."

~Harry Arter, Rep of Ireland


"I don’t see any reason why he shouldn’t follow me as manager."

~Martin O’Neill, Rep of Ireland manager


"Do I think he’s good enough to do the [United] job? Yes, of course. He’d sort out a lot of stuff there fairly lively."

~David Meyler, Rep of Ireland​

Whilst Keane has not set the world on fire in his management career and does not currently have the CV of a Mourinho, Van Gaal or Ancelotti, he has done well in many regards and it certainly hasn't been the disaster some media make out.

Finally, when considering Keane's management record to date, let's look at the early careers of some other top managers...

Conte was sacked at Arezzo before he returned to oversee their relegation to Serie C1. He won promotion from Serie B with Bari and Sienna but in his only season in Serie A, resigned with Atalanta 19th position. Then Juventus appointed their former captain and he's never looked back.

Guardiola, chosen by the Barcelona board in 2008 over the more experienced Mourinho due to his better fit of the club culture. Like Conte, a former captain of the side who never looked back.

Pochettino, sacked at Espanyol with the club rock bottom of La Liga. Simeone, left numerous Argentinian clubs due to poor results and fought a relegation battle with Catania. Klopp, relegated with Mainz. Heck, even Fergie finished one place above the relegation zone with St Mirren and was sacked before going on to better things.

Is Keane's record worse than any of this?

 

Monster posts!

 

Summary. He's a dirty gypo twat

 

Consider it United's adaptation of the Boot Room.

You must miss those days?

 

Tbf I was never involved in the boot room days, but if i had have been i might have missed it a tiny bit i suppose.

 

So in short for all the others who can't be arsed to read it..

You love Roy ??

 

No, I love United and believe Roy could return the club culture that existed under Ferguson.

 

What's that coming over the hill, is it...

Oh, it's Keano.

 

Those days are gone.. footballers want to be molly coddled not screamed at by a mad pikie. He would systematically upset just about every player we have. After all in the end fergie described him as a negative influence in the dressing room.

 

I agree about a lot of modern day footballers. Many are molly coddled millionaires, or at least on too much money too soon, which provides them a position of excessive comfort and power within clubs that can undermine a manager. It's become easier to sack the man at the top than move on the player(s) who don't adhere to their ideas and attitudes. But is that the best approach for success?

Fergie was notorious for his hairdryer treatment and it was the fear of letting him down that provided a large part of players' motivation. He kicked chairs, water bottles and boots around the dressing room. He controlled players' private lives to the extent Beckham described him as a "bully". He reduced Ronaldo to tears, gave Gary Neville sleepless nights and fell out with numerous other high profile players down the years; Stam, Nistelrooy, Keane, Hargreaves, Rooney. Yet ultimately it was a huge success with his status at the club ensuring he won every personal battle.

Are those days over? I hear some modern managers like Conte and Simeone are prone to not too infrequent outbursts in the dressing room and on the training pitch. I think there's room for it when a manager has stature at a club. I believe Keane would initially carry that stature and respect from the players at United given what he achieved there.

Saying that, we aren't talking about the Roy Keane of a decade ago. This is a matured model who, as most do, has mellowed to at least some degree and learnt with age and experience. His 2014 autobiography shows a lot of self-awarenes and other comments show he isn't ignorant of his effect: -

“Yeah, of course, yeah. Obviously different players have different traits.

“How you speak to them, who you shout at, who you don’t.”

~Keane, 2015​

We can see examples under the "Man-Management" heading in the OP above that Keane has a whole other side he utilises privately alongside the more overt character that makes the headlines.

Ferguson has obviously changed his mind over time. After Roy had left the club and following his 2006 testimonial match, Fergie declared Keane his best ever player, not for his on pitch ability but his overall effect on those around him. It was only with Fergie's 2013 autobiography, at the peak of their feud, that he declared Keane a negative effect on young players like Fletcher. Yet in contrast, Fletcher has only praise for Keane's influence and shaping him.

So whilst I agree with you about modern times to a large degree, I don't think such a narrow portrayal of Keane is entirely fair and is possibly exaggerated by an outdated media created caricature of the man.

 

In summary, he's a pikey tosser

 

I like Gav81 though, looks fun.

 

Who's sock do you reckon he is?

 

Yeah. I wonder what he does when confronted with a window?

 

That's it confirmed - Keano is on a charm offensive.

Following a boring defeat vs Basel where we didn't really push for a goal and Jose admitted afterward that "it is not time to try to win" I awaited the lambasting from Keane on the ITV highlights show. And instead got this...

"The big plus for United is that their form has been that good in the Champions League that they gave themselves room to slip up tonight.

"When United have their strongest team out, they will compete with a lot of the teams in Europe. There are five or six players that played tonight that won't be in their strongest team.

"Mourinho is looking at the bigger picture – forget about tonight and move on. They'll be competing to win this title without a doubt."

​

Who is this man posing as Roy Keane? Then I realised it was Roy Keane as he slaughtered Moreno and Liverpool...

“What he's doing for the penalty, you wouldn't see a child doing it. It's pure madness for an international player to do that,”

“You look at the free-kick he gave away, that's nothing to do with the manager. This has nothing to do with team shape or mentality.

“I know it's a team game, but sometimes you have to point the finger and say ‘you're killing us, you're costing us’.”

“Liverpool will win a lot of football matches, but when it comes to the big games they're going to come up short because they've got a couple of defenders who just aren't good enough and they'll always get found out.”

​

My completely biased conclusion is that Keane has been promised the United job should he be more acquiescent toward the current incumbent.

 

"They'll be competing to win this title without a doubt."

 

Keane has more premier league titles than Gerrard.

 

What the **** has that to do with my comment?