ROY WON’T HANG ABOUT IF HE FEELS IT’S NOT RIGHT
Once Keane felt something was not quite right at Villa, he was off
AFTER the warm words in his book, Roy Keane’s departure from Aston Villa, where he was No 2 to manager Paul Lambert, can only benefit the Ireland set-up in the long run, but it is strange timing by the Corkman as we don’t have a game for three months.
This is a busy period in the English game, with plenty of games over a short period, whereas Ireland are not back into competitive action until March.
You would have expected him to get through the busy December/ Christmas period, when the games come thick and fast, and then have a look at the situation and whether he can handle two jobs.
But Roy has proved in the past that he can be very impulsive if he is not happy about things, and if he believes something is not right, he will act.
As soon as Roy left his post on Friday morning, Lambert was installed as the bookies’ favourite to be sacked.
And, I think if Lambert had gone from the club first, rather than Roy stepping up to become manager, I am as certain as I would be about anything in football that he would have walked, too.
When he took the job Roy would have had that conversation and I am sure he reassured Lambert that he is not the sort of person who would stab anyone in the back.
Roy and I were teammates, and I did an interview for the BBC’s Football Focus with him in the wake of the book’s release, but I don’t really know him.
What I read in his book was that, when he started working in the Ireland set-up with Martin O’Neill, he was the happiest he has ever been in his professional life.
It just proves no one can ever be settled in management or coaching (and rightly so).
Roy is not the sort of character who would go into any job or role half-heartedly and he would always want to do things correctly.
But I can’t see how anyone can fulfil and combine two major roles as two important No 2s.
I was always intrigued how this would play out.
With the scouting for Ireland, preparations for international weeks, similar scouting briefs for Villa, on top of day-to-day coaching, preparations, and then Premier League games, at what point does he have a private life?
Coaches can be paid part-time money, or not at all, but there is no such thing as a part time job in football, at any level, and Roy Keane, Martin O’Neill and Paul Lambert all know that.
So many other people have attempted to do it, and no one has really cracked it.
And, if Roy can’t give each role 100 per cent of his time and attention, perhaps he has looked at it and decided that one had to go. And, so he will continue as Martin O’Neill’s assistant, returning to scouting duties presumably which can only be a good thing.
Scouting for Ireland is another job which cannot be done part-time.
I am a firm believer that you should be watching players who you would like to be available for selection now or have potential and will be in and around the squad in two or three years’ time so that when someone does progress it does not come as a surprise.
I suspect Steve Guppy and Steve Walford, plus Martin, have been on their travels every week watching games.
And, I’d like to think they are watching Irish players with potential, and who will be with us for the World Cup 2018 campaign, not just the current crop of players.
As we have seen in the last month, international management brings its own challenges – for Martin and for Roy.
If Marco Tardelli ever did a press conference, in the unlikely event he said anything remotely controversial, it might make a back page headline or two. And he was a World Cup Final winning goalscorer (or is it goalscoring winner?) But Roy Keane is a different animal, and Martin I am sure knew this when he took him as his assistant.
Every time the squad meets up, the media interest revolves around Roy.
That is the hold he has in Ireland and that is the nature of the beast.
He is the biggest fish in the squad, even if he is only the assistant manager.
His outburst over the alleged fitness of Everton players, which quite rightly brought up a concern of every Irish fan, was typical of the way his comments can be reported. But at least it took attention away from the Scotland defeat, and it didn’t come from the manager. And that could suit Martin.
ROY HAS admitted he is still learning in the Ireland role but he has been such a dominant figure and personality as a player, and previously as a manager, that he has always been No 1. And, by his own admission, at times, being a No 2 has its frustrations for anyone, never mind someone with his reputation because, ultimately, the No 2 doesn’t have the authority to have the final word.