The Roy Keane Saga - Grow Up And Get A Grip For All Our Sakes (World Cup 2002 - the build up)

Member Name: kenjohn

Product:	World Cup 2002 - the build up
Date:	28/05/02 (183 review reads)
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Advantages: See text of opinion

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~ ~ You would hardly credit that we had a General Election here in Ireland just over a week ago, and that serious negotiations are still ongoing about the makeup of our next Government for the next five years or so.
Only one story dominates all the print, radio, and TV media here at the moment, and that’s the ongoing saga of skipper Roy Keane’s dismissal from the Republic of Ireland soccer squad due to open their World Cup campaign against the African Champion’s, Cameroon in the early hours of Saturday morning. (1st June, 2002)

~ ~ I have no intention of going into a detailed biography of Roy Keane as a player, as any football fan will be only too aware of his standing and pedigree.
He is one of the greatest midfield players in world soccer, and has been a huge influence in the continuing success of both his club side, Manchester United, and on the fortunes of the Irish International team.
At 31 years of age, Roy is probably at the peak of his soccer career, and though he had stated before this year’s World Cup that it was his intention to retire from International soccer after Japan/Korea, the chances are that this wouldn’t actually have come to pass, and that there is still a strong possibility that he could play in the World Cup again in four years time, when he will still only be 35 years old.

~ ~ Keane has always been his “own man”, and in common with many other soccer superstars of the past, has a bit of a reputation for his antics both on the park and in his private life over the years.
That he has a volatile temper is without doubt, as this breaking story in Japan confirms!
For the benefit of those of you who may not have heard of the ongoing drama surrounding Keane and the Irish team, here’s a brief synopsis.
The Irish squad based themselves initially on the Pacific island of Saipan before finally jetting off to Izumo in Japan to open their World Cup campaign.

Right from the outset there was friction between Keane and the Irish team manager, Mick McCarthy, over what Keane claims was a lack of professionalism in the approach of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and McCarthy himself to the World Cup.
The base was too far from Japan, with a further plane journey of about 8 hours required. The training facilities, and in particular the atrocious condition of the training pitch, (it was rock hard and uneven) wasn’t acceptable. The team’s training kit was late in arriving from Ireland, and on the first day the side had to work out without boots or even proper footballs.
A further heated argument occurred with the goalkeeping coach, Packie Bonner, over his refusal to allow the goalkeepers to participate in a five-a-side training match. Keane also suggested that the training schedule was too light, given that many of the players who play in the Nationwide First Division in England, hadn’t trained properly for over five weeks.
Seemingly, as Captain, he approached Mick McCarthy ( the manager) and voiced his concerns in no uncertain terms, even going so far as to state that he was thinking of withdrawing from the squad if things didn’t improve.
This initial bust up was smoothed over, with the timely intervention of Keane’s club manager, the equally abrasive Scot, Alex Ferguson, and all seemed to be back on course.

~ ~ But then came the amazing team meeting, called by McCarthy, where Keane was backed into a corner, and publicly criticised by the manager in front of his team-mates. At that point, and not to put too fine a point on things, it would appear that Roy “lost the plot”, and went for the manager McCarthy with a venom that defies belief.
If the newspapers (and some of the other players) are to be believed, then McCarthy was told that he was an English cu*t, that he had been a lousy player, and was an equally lousy manager. Keane has since
publicly denied some of the words attributed to him however, both in the Press and here on TV in Ireland.
But that the team meeting was very heated is beyond question, and the end result of his outburst was that McCarthy ended up sacking him from the squad, and sending him home to the UK.

~ ~ Since that time, the talk here in Ireland, both on the street, and in every section of the media, has been about nothing else.
It culminated last night (Monday, 27th May) in a half hour interview with Roy Keane on RTE, (the Irish TV channel) in which he partially apologised for his outburst, and stated that there was still a possibility of his playing for the team. However, he also stated in the same interview that he considered many of the Irish squad cowards, for their failure to back him up.
Since then, the players themselves, and the FAI have publicly declared that he is not welcome back into the side.
So strong is the feeling here in Ireland over this incident, that the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) himself, Bertie Ahern, has publicly declared his willingness to act as a mediator in the dispute, and declared his desire to see Keane on the pitch in the green of Ireland.

~ ~ OK. Enough of the background and history.
This here is an opinion site, and what I’m going to do now is to express my own opinion on the sorry saga, as a soccer fan and as a staunch Irish supporter.
Put simply, I think that both Keane and McCarthy, along with the Irish squad themselves, need to do a lot of growing up (and quickly) if this is ever going to be sorted out.
Keane, however justified he may have felt he was in criticising the training conditions, had no right to publicly abuse the team manager in front of the players. Equally, McCarthy, as manager of the side, should never have put Keane into a position where he felt he was being backed into a corner, as he did when he called the team meeting, instead of dealing with the matter on a pr
ivate basis with the player.
Now we have a position where entrenched attitudes prevail, and Keane, the Irish Squad, the FAI, and McCarthy, have all dug in their heels like a bunch of ten-year-old schoolboys. Sorry, I actually take that back. Ten-year-old schoolboys would most likely have sorted it all out long ago!!!

~ ~ I was fortunate enough to be living here in Ireland during the World Cup campaigns of Italia 90 and USA 1994.
I will never forget the joy and jubilation of the whole nation when the Irish team did well, especially when they reached the quarterfinals in 1990.
When they beat Romania in a penalty shoot out to achieve that remarkable feat, the whole country took to the streets, in a spontaneous outpouring of joy. Cars peeped their horns, people openly hugged complete strangers, and the feeling of optimism that took over the whole country had to be experienced to be believed.
Ireland narrowly missed out on qualification in 1998, but this time around, expectations were high that not only could we repeat the success of Italia 90, but that we could possibly even surpass it.
And much of the hopes and dreams of the nation rested on the shoulders of both Roy Keane as Captain, and our very own “Captain Fantastic” from Italia 90, Mick McCarthy, as manager.
They are both letting down the whole country very badly. I simply don’t care about the rights and wrongs of the situation at this stage.
All I want to see now is a resolution before it is too late.
Even if Ireland were to go on to achieve success in the competition without Roy Keane, it simply wouldn’t be the same, as he played such an important role in even getting us to the finals in the first place.
Grow up lads, for God’s sake, and get it sorted!!
If you don’t, then a bitter Irish public will never forgive you.

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UPDATE Tuesday 28/5/02 (2.00 PM)

~ ~ Even as I was busy wri
ting this opinion, further dramatic developments were unfolding in Japan.
Mick McCarthy held a press conference this lunchtime in which he appears to have once again opened the door to a return to the Irish squad by Roy Keane, providing he is prepared to unreservedly apologise for his behaviour.
If he is prepared to do so, says McCarthy, he will then ask the rest of the team if they are prepared to let bygones be bygones, and accept their captain back into the side.
My own opinion is that this move by McCarthy doesn’t quite go far enough.
This sorry tale is now all about saving face (where more appropriate for that than in Japan) for all the parties concerned.
In McCarthy’s shoes, I would now state quite simply that this has gone on long enough. That Ireland needs Roy Keane, and that Roy Keane needs Ireland. I would apologise for things going this far, and ask Roy to do the same, and to get onto the next plane for Japan.
In fact, I feel fairly sure that if this were achieved, the Government would even make the private Government jet available to take Roy back, such is the desire here in Ireland to see him representing his country.
I get the feeling that this story has a few twists and turns in it yet, and that this wont be my last update. Watch this space!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

FINAL UPDATE (I think!) Wednesday, 29th May 10.00 AM

~ ~ Well. It would appear that the Roy Keane saga has now drawn to a close.
Roy has issued a statement stating categorically that he wont be playing for Ireland in Japan.
We'll just have to wait and see if there may even yet be more twists in this sorry tale.
A big thumbs down to all the parties involved from the 'mad cabbie'.
NOBODY wins in this debacle.

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