The Toronto Star
http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/207398Keane runs a tight ship.......
Manages team the same way he played
Apr 26, 2007 04:30 AM
Cathal Kelly
When Irish superstar Roy Keane left Manchester United in 2005, the Guardian ran a picture of him in a typical pose.
Keane's arms were clenched at his sides, his face screwed up in rage as he screamed noiselessly from the page at an unseen object of wrath, most likely a teammate who had made some minor error of judgment.
Underneath the picture, they ran the cutline: "We'll always remember his smile."
Though he was the captain of what was, for a moment, the finest club in the world, Keane carried around the tag of being a maniacal perfectionist.
Occasionally, that description veered into deranged. So much red mist surrounded Keane, he was practically swimming in it.
There was the walkout on the Irish national team on the eve of the 2002 World Cup and the proud declaration that he'd intended to end the career of an opponent during a vicious tackle.
When it became clear that Keane wanted to continue his sporting career as a manager, there was no shortage of skeptics.
You can't kneecap your own guys when they upset you.
So a fair contingent of onlookers awaited an implosion when Keane took over struggling English Championship side Sunderland last August.
Keane first overhauled the team, bringing in old Manchester United teammates like Dwight Yorke and Liam Miller, as well as former Irish international David Connolly.
Once he'd upped the talent level, he also increased the pressure.
He routinely juggled his lineup, making it impossible for any of his players to get comfortable. In one stretch, he fielded 36 different starting lineups in 36 matches.
"I know players are upset," Keane has said of the endless rotation.
"But ... actions speak louder than words; that means training properly, being on time, not sulking and taking your chances."
Then there are the off-day tests of stamina and wits – paint balling contests, whitewater rafting, hours-long hiking and mountain biking contests. All designed to bring the lads together, as they say, and brand in their minds the notion of who is boss.
Keane's main role model as a manager is not his mercurial master in Manchester, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Rather, he has adopted the coercive personality of his first and most influential boss, Brian Clough.
Clough was the crusty, manipulative, brilliant mind that for one brief shining moment turned tiny Nottingham Forest into the best club in Europe.
Keane already has Clough's cockiness (during his heyday with Notts Forest, Clough was asked exactly how good he considered himself. "I certainly wouldn't say I'm the best manager in the world, but I'm in the top one," he replied).
The Sunderland manager recently sat in the stands to watch Chelsea and Blackburn clash in an FA Cup semifinal.
After walking out early, he announced that his Championship side could have beaten either one of the Premiership lions on the day.
He has the expertise to make such a claim in quick order.
When Keane took over Sunderland last August, they had taken three points from their first five games. Since then, he has driven them to the top of the Championship.
The team's greatest feat is a run of 17 matches without defeat, including 14 wins. That streak was broken last weekend by tiny Colchester.
Nevertheless, Sunderland can clinch top spot and win automatic promotion to the Premiership if they defeat Burnley tomorrow.
His job will change paradigmatically once he ascends. He'll need better players, who will have to compete under a much harsher glare. One wonders if the stars he'll need to bring in will be up for an eight-mile hike on their day off. But one also wonders which man would be brave enough to refuse Keane as the blood rises to his face.
His ascendance to the job of Manchester United boss in the near future seems almost a certainty. But at this rate, some other English giant – or perhaps the Irish national team – might snatch him away first.
Every year, we all look forward to watching the emerging talent from the playing ranks. But few prospects have delighted more in the recent years than the coming sight of Roy Keane stalking a Premiership sideline in a suit, rather than cleats.
Show Posts
