Full Name: Roy Maurice Keane
Signed from Nottingham Forest on July 19 1993 for £3,750,000
Roy Keane Rumours and Transfers
28 10 2007
Sunderland boss Roy Keane has admitted he may have to alter his training regime after witnessing a first-half horror show against Fulham in the 1-1 draw on Saturday.
The Black Cats turned in a spectacularly inept first 45 minutes to belie the manager's assertion that they can make a significant impact in the top flight.
What transpired before the break made a second-half fightback look perhaps a little more impressive than it was, and while Keane was happy to see his players secure a reward for their efforts, he is well aware that, to a certain extent, that simply papered over the cracks.
In the wake of a frenetic finish, during which Kenwyne Jones' 86th-minute equaliser set the scene for substitute Anthony Stokes to almost snatch victory in injury-time, the Irishman revealed he had already started to analyse the reasons for a woeful start.
Keane, who has been hampered by injuries from the off this season, said: "We are asking players to keep pushing their bodies. That is well and good at Christmas or Easter, but so early in the season, it is something I don't like doing. As a manager, I have got to ask myself why we were so flat in the first half. Possibly we are training too hard, possibly we are pushing the players, and sometimes you can leave it out on the training pitch. Credit to our players, they train extremely hard. There is always that intensity, there are always tackles flying about. But then I ask myself why have we got a load of injuries? That is down to me as a manager and we have to look at that because in any game in the Premier League, if you start slow, it's not like a light switch, you cannot just switch it on. You have got to start quickly, and it was a long 45 minutes for us. But I am grateful that we got to half-time."
That the Wearsiders walked off with boos ringing in their ears only 1-0 down was something Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez was to live to regret after his side dominated the opening 45 minutes.
Simon Davies' 32nd-minute free-kick did the damage, but the visitors should perhaps already have been in front after the normally lethal David Healy latched on to Danny Higginbotham's suicidal pass across goal, but contrived to fire wide of the empty net from 20 yards.
Sunderland's improvement after the restart was marked, although it was not until the 70th minute that they really threatened with keeper Antti Niemi blocking Grant Leadbitter's shot after the midfielder broke through the cover.
The Finn repeated the feat at the death when confronted one-one-one by Stokes, but by then Jones had climbed highest to power home his fourth goal of the season from a Leadbitter cross to level.
Asked what he had said at half-time, Keane replied with a smile: "Not too much. Half-time came at a good time - I'm not sure for the players, but for me and the staff. It was a chance to make a few points to them, and credit to them, they took it on board. It was certainly a game of two halves. They were unrecognisable from the first half."
The result was all the more creditable after full-back Greg Halford's second dismissal of the season on 67 minutes for two bookable offences, a misdemeanour which will land him a two-match ban.
But if Halford was disappointed with his afternoon's work, his mood was more than matched by that of Sanchez, who has now seen his side go nine Barclays Premier League games without a win.
He said: "I see some results going on in the Premier League, I see sixes and sevens and fours and fives and threes. We had one bad half against Portsmouth and were beaten 2-0, and that's our worst game of the season. We have been in every other game against top teams from Arsenal all the way down to the Derbys of this world when we played with 10 men. We can compete, but what we cannot seem to do at this moment in time is gather three points from one game. We have to gather them from three games, which does make it rather difficult. But if we play like that in 90 per cent of our games, barring the last five minutes, we will be okay."
27 10 2007
Roy Keane has hinted Martin Jol was sacked due to "politics" at Tottenham - but the Sunderland boss is not living in fear of the axe himself.
Keane is not under pressure at Sunderland but he is realistic enough to recognise his reign could one day end in disappointment after seeing Martin Jol's departure from White Hart Lane.
Keane said: "Getting the sack is the least of my worries. It happens to 95% of managers and only one or two hang in there where you're at a massive club and you're building a dynasty. It's the nature of the game and sometimes it's not just down to results, it's down to interference or politics at a club. I appreciate what a tough job managers have got - but you shouldn't be fearful, because it's only a job."
26 10 2007
Graham Kavanagh has played down suggestions he could link up with Sheffield United following his loan spell with city rivals Sheffield Wednesday.
The midfielder will return to parent club Sunderland after playing for The Owls against Blackpool this weekend.
But reports have claimed he could be swiftly loaned out again, with Blades boss Bryan Robson anxious to sign a midfielder.
Kavanagh has brushed off the rumours, but admits he would be open to a return to Hillsborough if he fails to break back into the Sunderland side.
"That's the first I have heard of any move to Sheffield United, I didn't even know they were supposed to be interested," said Kavanagh in the Yorkshire Post.
"I wouldn't imagine Roy Keane would allow me to go back to Sunderland, with the option of sending me off somewhere else. If that was the case it would have been another month here. I'm sure there are all sorts of rumours going round, but that's all they are. I spoke to the manager (Brian Laws) on Monday when he broke news to me that Roy Keane wanted me back. I said 'look, we will keep our options open'. If in the January transfer window it gets to the point where I haven't been playing at Sunderland, if Brian was to come back in again we would re-assess the situation come the time. I would certainly be interested in returning, it would then be up to the club to make the move happen."
25 10 2007
Brian Laws was left reeling yesterday after seeing the spine of his Sheffield Wednesday team ripped apart.
The Owls manager was already struggling to come to terms with the long-term ankle ligament injury to star striker Francis Jeffers.
But in the aftermath of Tuesday night's home shocker against Scunthorpe United – which saw the Owls concede two goals for the fourth consecutive match and leaves them just one point off the bottom of the Championship after a quarter of the season – Laws was hit by another double blow.
First, centre-half Richard Wood, who was stretchered off against the Iron, has suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Then to cap a miserable week for Laws, Sunderland manager Roy Keane has ignored Wednesday's request to keep on-loan midfield general Graham Kavanagh for a second month as he wants him back on Wearside to help in their relegation battle in the Premier League.
"You always seem to pick up injuries when things aren't going well," said assistant manager Russ Wilcox.
"They are two key players. Everybody is important to the club, but these two are key players for us. You don't want to use injuries as an excuse but we have lost Richard Wood to a shoulder injury and we lost Francis Jeffers on Saturday. When things aren't going well you do seem to pick up injuries but we have enough in the squad to turn it around and we will just have to keep battling away."
In Wood, Kavanagh and Jeffers it is three players who formed the spine of Laws's team. One of Wednesday's main problems this season has been their lack of goals at Hllsborough.
They have scored just three times in six Championship games, including Deon Burton's penalty on Tuesday evening before he was substituted with concussion, and the other two scorers – Jeffers and Wade Small – are out injured.
Laws is hoping talks with chairman Dave Allen will allow him funds to bring in an on-loan striker to boost his firepower, but with performances from the Owls like the first 45 minutes against Sunthorpe, even strikers of the calibre of Wayne Rooney would struggle to get a sniff of goal.
Wilcox criticised his side's work-rate – usually a taboo issue when coaches moan about their players – and said the Iron had been more industrious than the Owls before the break.
"We looked like we worked harder in the second half, but you shouldn't be asking players to work harder, that should be just a natural thing," said the Owls No 2.
"That was disappointing. Once we stepped up the tempo after the break, I thought we dominated the second half. We have got to perform better over 90 minutes. In the first half we never won a second ball, we couldn't just get any tempo, but in the second we won the second ball and that allowed us to play. It's very difficult as a coach or manager to put your finger on what went wrong. We just looked flat in the first half."
Of the three promoted clubs from League One, Wednesday have already lost to two at Hillsborough this season; Scunthorpe joining Bristol City in taking maximum points.
The third side, Blackpool, visit Hillsborough on Saturday and Laws will be desperate to avoid an unwanted hat-trick. It's a massive week for the club," admitted Wilcox.
One piece of good news for Laws, however, is that on-loan central defender Michael Johnson has agreed to stay at Hillsbrough for a further month.
Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson will today attend the launch of a special exhibition at Bramall Lane which celebrates the history of black footballers in Sheffield.
The event, which is organised jointly by the Blades, the "Football Unites, Racism Divides" campaign, and The Hub African-Caribbean Centre based in Sharrow, also includes the launch of a project named in honour of Robson's former West Brom team-mate Laurie Cunningham.
Cunningham, who died in a car accident in July 1989, became the first black player to represent England at international level when he scored for the under-21 side in a 1-0 win over Scotland at Bramall Lane 30 years ago.
14 10 2007
Sunderland chairman Naill Quinn has promised to back Roy Keane in the winter transfer market following the club's slow start to the season.
Sunderland have disappointed through September after showing some promising signs in August, and are now 16th in the Premiership.
It is no disaster yet, but plenty of work remains to be done before the Black Cats can ensure survival.
There has been some pressure on Roy Keane to deliver the results, but Naill Quinn has promised to back his coach, including financially when the transfer window opens.
"We will do exactly the same as we did during the previous transfer windows," Quinn told The Sunday Mirror.
"We're changing nothing. We already have a terrific bunch of players. Roy and chief scout Mick Brown have identified targets. Chief executive Peter Walker and I will be doing everything we can to make sure the manager gets the signatures he wants. We've delivered and the aim is to deliver again. The manager will be looking to recruit next January, so I'm already looking at that. We believe in him and we're prepared to fund that belief, but other clubs are doing that too, which makes it interesting. There's a lot of new money in the Premier League, and that means there's more than just the top four to compete with. But we feel we're a club that can be so big that it is right for us to be ambitious in the transfer market."
06 10 2007
Roy Keane is eager to take Manchester United defenders Jonny Evans and Danny Simpson back to Sunderland in the January transfer window.
Both enjoyed a successful spell on Wearside last season as Keane guided Sunderland back to the Premier League and the Black Cats manager was frustrated in his attempts to retain the duo.
However, he still harbours hopes of taking the defensive pair back to the Stadium of Light.
Keane told the Sunderland Echo: "Jonny, if I thought for one minute there was an opportunity to bring him to Sunderland, with the quality he's got, we would have to consider it. Nothing happens until January anyway because he's under contract to United. But I know there will be a lot of teams ringing up United after Sir Alex (Ferguson) said the other week that there would be plenty going out on loan. His phone will be red hot at this moment in time and whether Jonny will still be there in January I really don't know. But Jonny did brilliantly for the club, as did Danny, and it would be nice if we thought they could come back. But it's a big 'if'."
Keane added: "It was a nightmare giving them back, I have to say, because they'd settled in so well. But they were good professionals, hard trainers out on the pitch, half-decent with the media side and ready to put everything in."
06 10 2007
Roy Keane last night criticised Stuart Pearce's decision not to call up Grant Leadbitter for England Under-21s' forthcoming European Championships qualifiers against Montenegro and Republic of Ireland.
While Wolves winger Michael Kightly and Southampton midfielder Andrew Surman were included in Pearce's travelling party despite a complete lack of Premier League experience, Leadbitter was overlooked for the second time in a month.
The 20-year-old is in the form of his life, having scored two goals in his last two Premier League games, and Keane cannot understand why he is consistently ignored when it comes to international honours.
"Grant didn't make the England Under-21 squad even though he's playing regularly in the Premier League," said the Sunderland boss.
"Some players have been selected even though they aren't even playing in the Championship. I'm surprised, but let's not go there."
Leadbitter has started the Black Cats' last four matches after successfully recovering from a hamstring injury sustained in pre-season, and the youngster is a certain starter tomorrow as Sunderland look to wreck Arsenal's 100 per cent record at the Emirates Stadium.
Expected to struggle following the summer departure of Thierry Henry, Arsene Wenger's side have instead won six of their opening seven league games to move two points clear at the top of the table.
And while Keane does not expect his former employers, Manchester United, to surrender their Premier League crown without a fight, he is equally convinced that Arsenal will mount a credible title challenge this season.
"If you were a punter and you wanted to watch a team, I would suggest that Arsenal and United are the teams you would go and watch," said the Irishman.
"Arsenal were criticised a little bit last season, but you would still pay to watch them. They're scoring more goals this year and taking a lot more chances, and sometimes you have to give these teams a chance to develop. The younger players' decision making has improved. They're certainly taking their chances and they've matured quickly over the last few years. At the moment, they definitely look like they'll be in with a shout of the title."
Cesc Fabregas has been at the heart of Arsenal's resurgence, with Keane hailing the Spaniard as one of the foremost midfielders in English football.
"He's got a chance, hasn't he," he joked. "He's probably a different type of player to me - not as cultured! He's a good player and he's still maturing. He seems to have settled down this season and he's added goals to his locker. I think any top midfielder has to have goals in him. He's already scored more than he did last season, but that comes from the whole team maturing together."
Sunderland's team has not been maturing as quickly as Keane would like, although there were obvious signs of promise when they held out for more than 70 minutes at Old Trafford last month.
Tomorrow's game is likely to see a repeat of the 4-5-1 formation Keane adopted against Manchester United, but the Black Cats boss has demanded his players ask more questions of Arsenal goalkeeper Manuel Almunia than they posed to Edwin van der Sar.
"Hopefully, we can learn a little bit from the United game," he said.
"We did OK for long periods of that game, even though we ended up with no points. We showed we are confident enough in that kind of environment, although I'd like to see us get forward a bit more (tomorrrow) and create two or three chances. We might be something like 20-1 but, in a two-horse race, you have to believe. Arsenal might get stuck on the tube! Seriously, though, we all have dreams of where we want to get to. How you get there is another thing entirely, but you have to believe you can get there."
02 10 2007
Sunderland goalkeeper Craig Gordon has warned his Scotland team-mates they cannot afford to let their standards drop if they are to make their European dream a reality.
The Scots have powered their way to the top of Group B courtesy in part of a stunning double over France to put themselves in with a very real chance of making next summer's Euro 2008 finals.
However, with tough games to come against Ukraine and Italy on home soil and Georgia on the road, 24-year-old Gordon knows they can take nothing for granted.
He said: "It's an exciting time. We are top of the group at the moment, but we have got probably the hardest last three fixtures out of the top three teams who are chasing the two spots. Even though we are on top, it is still going to be difficult for us. We are only two points away from being third and that's why the two games coming up are going to be tough and ones we are going to need to do well in. But we have put ourselves in that position and it is great to be involved in that, and the pressure that comes from that is the type of pressure we want to be involved in."
Pressure is something to which Gordon has become accustomed in recent months after making his summer move to Sunderland for a British record £9million fee for a goalkeeper.
His performances for the Black Cats have been impressive in a difficult start to their first season back in the top flight.
However, the former Hearts keeper is only too aware that one poor performance would see the spotlight return to manager Roy Keane's big money swoop.
Speaking as he was unveiled as the latest member of a leading American sportswear company stable of athletes, Gordon said: "It's still only eight games and I am sure that if I went out and played poorly in a game, then it would be mentioned. I am well aware that's going to stick around. At the moment, I have not heard too much about it, which I would see as a good thing, but it really is something that does not concern me that much. It's the way transfer fees are going, especially in this league, and the top leagues around the world, so it is not something I concern myself with."
01 10 2007
Sunderland are said to be showing an interest in Coventry striker Michael Mifsud, who knocked Manchester United out of the Carling Cup.
Mifsud hit the headlines last week as his brace dumped the Reds out of the competition and the striker then followed that up with his sixth goal of the season in a 1-1 draw with Charlton on Saturday.
Black Cats boss Roy Keane did the vast majority of his shopping in the Championship during the summer and reports now claim he could swoop on the Ricoh Arena to land Mifsud in January.
The Sky Blues will be keen to keep hold but an offer in the region of £1.5million could be enough to clinch a deal.
Bolton Wanderers are also said to be monitoring the situation with a view to making a bid.
