Keane fights to keep hitman Jones.
Wigan Today.Sunderland boss Roy Keane is facing a fresh battle to keep Kenwyne Jones from the clutches of Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United. The powerhouse striker has been a revelation in Sunderland's first season in the Premier League under Roy Keane since his £6m move from Southampton in the summer.
Sunderland have already had to knock back an initial approach from Liverpool, with Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United are also interested in the striker. Now Keane will have to persuade Jones - who could double his wages with a move to one of the big four - to stay at the Stadium of Light.
Meanwhile, Roy Keane is preparing a massive summer clearout at Sunderland, with a dozen players sweating on their futures. Sunderland could offload as many as 15 players. 'We've lost 22 games this season and people keep telling me we've had a good season - but I'm lucky to still be in a job,' said Keane.
'You learn a hell of a lot about your players all the time and this match just confirmed what I'm thinking anyway.
'People say to me that we achieved our goal last week, but do we keep living in last week? 'Every game is an opportunity to impress me, but there will be changes in the summer because I'm saying the same thing week in, week out.
'I'm fed up of saying it and really bored with myself now at this stage - really, really bored.' Keane will throw out the players he feels are not up to the job after a superb strike from El-Hadji Diouf and an own-goal from Daryl Murphy handed Bolton victory.
Keane continued: 'Gordon Strachan and one or two other managers have said that if you tell a player something more than two or three times and he doesn't do it, then get shot of him. 'I've been very patient and very kind to some of my players.
'But we need to invest and we need invest wisely and we need to move certain people on. 'That will be done this week - if not this week then the following week. 'It's irrelevant to me whether players are under contract or not.
'If they are you just pay them up to go because you want certain characters. 'You pay them to come and you pay them to go and that's what we'll have to do. I'll have a very busy week, trust me.'
Keane warns rival clubs to keep their hands off his Sunderland 'untouchables'.
By: Louise Taylor (UK Guardian).[/size]
Roy Keane has said that Kenwyne Jones will not be sold at any price. Roy Keane has warned any predatory clubs that Kenwyne Jones and Craig Gordon are not for sale. The Sunderland manager yesterday described his centre-forward and goalkeeper as "untouchables".
"No sometimes really means yes in the transfer market but in the cases of Kenwyne and Craig no means no without a doubt," said Keane, who has released the out-of-contract Andy Cole, Ian Harte and Stanislav Varga. "Kenwyne and our goalkeeper are definitely not going anywhere. There are certain players who are untouchable.
"Sometimes a club might think they might get £20m or £30m and invest it and it's a good deal for everyone but it certainly wouldn't be a good deal for us to let Kenwyne or our goalkeeper go. It would set us back a hell of a lot. They are no-gos - even if we were offered crazy money."
Happily for Keane, Jones, a £6m buy from Southampton last summer who has caught the eye of Liverpool's Rafael Benítez and Chelsea's Avram Grant, yesterday pledged his loyalty to Sunderland. "Hopefully I'll be here for a long time," said the 23-year-old. "You don't want to be a gypsy type player where you're moving from one place to another and not settling. It's flattering that clubs are interested in me but at the moment I'm focused on my job that I have to do here."
While Jones has been likened to Chelsea's Didier Drogba, Gordon - a £9m buy from Hearts last summer - is not quite so feted and was dropped for a period by Keane during the middle of the season.
Yet while Gordon has his critics, Sunderland's manager believes his goalkeeper is potentially the planet's best. "I think Craig is a brilliant goalkeeper," enthused Keane. "He is a young man and this year he's done OK for us but I've no doubt that, in the next few years, he'll become one of the best in the world, if not the best. What he's lacking at the moment is experience. And particularly in our team this season he has been tested. He really has.
"The biggest pluses this year have been him and Kenwyne. All our players have so much to learn but the good thing with those two is that I look at them and they want to learn. I'm not sure with some of the others that they want to learn too much."
While Keane is planning a sizeable squad clear-out this summer, he hopes to persuade Dwight Yorke to remain on Wearside for another season, possibly in a player-coaching role. However, the veteran former Manchester United forward is understood to be attracted by rival offers from Australia.
"I'm doing a lot of chatting at the moment and I had a chat with Yorkie and will have another one next week," he explained. "He's got one or two choices and he's weighing up his options."
Bolton's Danny Guthrie, left, vies for the ball with Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones, right, during their English Premier League soccer match in Bolton, England, Saturday, May 3, 2008. ...(AP Photo/Paul Thomas).
