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managers/profile-1585.html
— Roy Keane —
the
manager
WINTER 2011
➽
fittest player on the planet.
Anyhow, John Salako scored from
about 45 yards as a result and that
meant we’d have to go to London for
the replay. Clough didn’t really like to
travel, so he was really frustrated and,
yes, he punched me... which, to be
fair, surprised me. I really wasn’t too
upset about it, though, and I never
held it against him. I never considered
‘downing tools’ or anything. Put it
this way... I didn’t do it again.
Tell us about your career as a
manager to date.
I didn’t want to go into management
as quickly as I did. I actually turned
the Sunderland job down when it
was first offered to me because I was
still earning my coaching badges. But
when I did take the job, things started
out well enough. I started to struggle
in the Sunderland job at about the
time that the club was sold. All in
all, though, I think I did reasonably
well up there, we got promoted and
managed to stay up. It was different
at Ipswich, as I never really got going
in that job. However I was very proud
to manage the club to its first cup
semi-final in 33 years. I also gave eight
players from the Ipswich academy
their first team débuts, which is
something I’m proud of. When I
was at Sunderland, I relied on my
gut feeling a lot. But then, probably
because things hadn’t ended too well
there, I stopped using my instinct and
started listening to too many people,
which backfired on me. Looking back,
I’m surprised that I made such a basic
mistake, as I’ve always followed my
gut feeling throughout my career and
that’s usually served me well.
Managers in all walks of life talk
about the loneliness of the role.
Did you find the job lonely?
When I was a player, I enjoyed being
part of the team and I would go
drinking with my teammates and
whatever, but I’ve never minded being
in my own space either. Football
management is a form of madness,
but you ask anyone who’s done the
job and they would tell you the same
thing... given half the chance – and
hopefully with the right club – I’d go
straight back into it.
It does sound like madness...
so why does it attract you?
It’s the challenge... the buzz it gives
me. Whatever bit of success I might
have had as a player, I was never
satisfied. I think that will always stay
with me. I’m enjoying working for
ITV, but I see myself getting back
into management. It’s the nature of
the game that jobs will come up and
if an opportunity arises for me I will
certainly look at it. But I could be
waiting a long time, because there are
a lot of good managers looking to get
back into work at the moment.
Do today’s players have the
same motivation that you had?
I don’t think so. The people I played
against – the likes of David Batty and
Alan Shearer – had a real love for the
game, but in my short experience as
a manager I found that players want
the rewards before they put the work
in. For example, I think I played
about 100 games for Forest before
a pay rise was even mentioned...
and that was probably a good thing.
I’ve had calls from agents of young
players who might have played
just 10 games asking about a new
contract. Sometimes clubs give in to
the pressure and then, a couple of
months down the road, you find these
players have lost ‘the eye of the tiger’.
Nowadays players are sitting on long
contracts and they don’t seem to be
bothered in the least if they’re not in
the team on a Saturday. People should
get involved with the game because
they love it, not because they think
they might get a Bentley and a blonde.
Do you have an ambition to
take over from Sir Alex?
No. The only reason you’re even
asking me that question is because I
used to play for Manchester United.
The next Manchester United manager
will have to be world class and I’m
certainly a long way from being that.
As far as I’m concerned, I’m only
starting out as a manager. That’s not
to say that you shouldn’t aim high;
I always aimed high in my playing
career and I’m not going to change
that. I’ve made some mistakes in
my short career as a manager, but
hopefully I’ll learn from those
mistakes and be a better manager
because of them.
Keane celebrates winning the
2002/03 title with Manchester
United in May 2003
“There are
a lot of good
managers
looking for
work at the
moment”