Fergie’s grip is chokingReds

THERE may be compelling arguments against Roy Keane ever getting near the home dugout at Old Trafford, but Alex Ferguson and his ageless spite should not be one of them. The autocrat emeritus was said to be determined to keep Keane out of any new managerial arrangement at Manchester United.

With reports of the appointment of Louis van Gaal and a band of Dutchmen growing to the point of inevitability, the former club captain’s chances of being part of the Van Gaal team look zero, if they ever existed in the first place.

However, the idea that Keane’s return to United would be blocked by Ferguson should unsettle fans of the club; the Scot made a hash of his own succession by picking a man who shared his accent and beliefs.

That should disqualify him from having no greater part in the next search than any other half-dozing director in his free club suit.

THE reason for Dublin’s statement about Shane Carthy is not known. A 19year-old publicly acknowledging depression is taking a mighty step, but the courage of the player and the openness of his team are hugely important not for the GAA but for us as a nation: Nobody need suffer alone. THERE are worse places than America in June, but the Irish players will be wistful as they play the role of training cones for World Cup-bound Costa Rica and Portugal next month. However, so disastrous was the Irish effort at qualifying for the carnival of football in Brazil that no one can have the cheek to wonder what might have been.

THIS is a strange kind of revolution. The two most important hurling teams of the past decade have emerged into the game’s new world and find themselves best in the League. Limerick are in chaos, Cork and Waterford in flux: Clare and Davy Fitzgerald (right) are the best hope of those who crave sustained change.