MON€Y TALKS
Azerbaijan can cough up cash to match Keane’s high standards
THERE IS one reason why Roy Keane would talk to the Associations of Football Federations of Azerbaijan (AFFA) about becoming their senior team manager: they can afford him.
The oil-rich Caspian Sea state is awash in dough and since gaining independence from the USSR almost 30 years ago, the moolah is theirs to spend and invest, rather than Moscow’s.
And that will be music to Keane’s ears, as he has never short-changed himself in any ontract talks.
Even though he hasn’t been a No1 for nearly a decade, the asking price for his services won’t have dropped a cent.
If anything, it will have gone up, which is possibly one of the reasons he hasn’t had many offers.
Whatever price Keane demands from the Azerbaijanis for his services won’t be an issue in negotiations. If the late Michael Kennedy was still acting for Keane, the contract would probably be goldembossed, such were his legendary negotiation skills. Either way, Keane will be handsomely rewarded should he take the plunge back into management.
Sport is seen as a vital vehicle to promote Azerbaijan and oodles of cash has been ploughed into projects to advance the nation’s status and profile.
There have been two bids for the Olympic Games, in 2016 and 2020, while our old friend Michel Platini was in Baku in 2011 to turn the sod on the Baku Olympic Stadium — which opened in 2015 and seats 68,7000 fans, making it the 16th largest football stadium in Europe.
When Platini pushed the idea of a pan-Euro finals for 2020, the Azerbaijanis were among the 32 nations to express an interest.
They stood their ground through the process and Baku will stage four games, one of them a quarter-final, in the deferred finals next summer.
The Olympic Stadium also hosted the 2019 Europa League final between Chelsea and Arsenal, while former OCI President Pat Hickey enjoyed the best seats in the house at the 2015 European Games.
Host of the 2012 Eurovision –— Jedward came 19th out of 26 — the Azerbaijanis clearly think big and have deep pockets to back up their ambition, hence the approach to Keane, the latest high-profile name to come on their radar.
Already, two World Cup winners Carlos Alberto and Bertie Vogts, have managed the national team — the latter for six years from 2008 – while the gifted Croat Robert Prosinecki was in charge from 2014 until 2017.
It’s one thing paying big bucks for a national coach, but the football resources are nowhere as rich as the oil and gas fields which underpin the Azerbaijan econAlmost omy. The country has yet to produce a world-class player, unlike their neighbours Armenia, who have basked in the feats of former Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and Arsenal forward Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
On the club scene, Qarabag are the kings, with one appearance in the Champions League group stage, in 2017-18.
Ranked 114th in the world, Azerbaijan have never come closer to qualifying for a major tournament, and managed one draw from eight games in a Euro 2020 qualification along with Croatia, Wales, Slovakia and Hungary.
They secured promotion to the Nations League Group C where they will play Luxembourg, Montenegro and Cyprus.
Should Keane take on the challenge, it will be unlike anything he has known at club level. At Sunderland, there was money to spend; at Ipswich, a little less. At each club, Keane shuffled the deck like a Vegas hustler.
THERE is less scope for that at international level where you play the hand you’re dealt, as Keane found out in his five years as Republic of Ireland No2 under Martin O’Neill.
Much will depend on the depth of Keane’s desire to return to football’s front line.
So far, he has shown a reluctance to move too far from home, turning down the Iceland job in 2011 as well as a club post with Turkish outfit, Kasimpasa, in 2012.
49, he can choose to sit in the Sky Sports studio swinging verbal punches at players for not doing their jobs, or he can get back out on the field, try to improve standards, and restore his managerial reputation.
A complex character, Keane’s bark n’ bite approach is perhaps suited best to the infrequent nature of international football.
It helps that the affluent AFFA would have no issue meeting Keane’s demands for proper training facilities, five-star hotels and first class travel for the players and staff, and so on.
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail and all that.
You suspect if Kennedy was offering counsel, he’d encourage a return to management. Win, lose or draw as Azerbaijan manager, Keane would certainly be richer for the experience.