Quinn: I missed out on Van Gaal
It was the summer of 2009 and the Black Cats were still reeling from the fallout of Roy Keane’s mid-season exit. Whilst Ricky Spragia had finished Keane’s job by of keeping Sunderland in the Premier League, a new figurehead was needed and Quinn’s mind wandered towards the Lowlands.
“I was cheeky enough before appointing Steve Bruce to ring up Van Gaal,” explained Quinn, these days a pundit for Sky Sports and on duty tomorrow for Ireland’s friendly against Turkey.
“He was on a sabbatical at the time. I think his wife was on my side because he was home a lot and she encouraged me to keep ringing him! It was a brave call for us to make to try to lure someone like that. He was very courteous and didn’t dismiss the idea.
“Our owner, Ellis Short, would have backed it. He was 100% behind it if it had come off.
“Then a massive club came along and blew us out of the water at the time. But, as they say in the north- east of England: ‘Shy ones get nowt’ so at least we had a go.”
That massive club, of course, was Bayern Munich and the latest project van Gaal will negotiate following the World Cup is arguably his most daunting – as Manchester United’s saviour.
“He’s already mentioned terms like ‘recreating history’ and ‘creating new history’ at Manchester United,” noted Quinn.
“This won’t be a case of recruiting six or eight players and letting the club run the rest. This will be getting the whole structures back in place where people fear Manchester United’s youth team, they fear their reserves.
“It won’t just be a quick fix for him and I think it’s brilliant that the Premier League has someone of his stature.”
Speculation yesterday that James McCarthy would be joining the Dutchman at Old Trafford was met with a similarly cautionary note by Quinn as his former team-mate, captain and then employee, Roy Keane. He even cited the example of Jordan Henderson, one of Keane’s success stories at the Stadium of Light, as supporting evidence.
“Jordan would always credit Roy with giving him the first bit of impetus to believe in himself,” explained the 92-times capped Quinn.
“He was the last experience of someone moving too soon when he left for Liverpool. Between himself, his family and agent and what I think Liverpool were offering, he wilted in the end.
“We wanted another year out of him, but we always knew he wasn’t quite ready to lead the charge at Anfield. He had that difficult first year at Liverpool where he was restricting himself, he wasn’t pushing himself through the barrier. He was taking the easy way out, as you do. You want to do it safe. Then you overdo it safe, the crowd gets on your back and your passing goes astray.
“Suddenly this wonderful talented kid is a shadow of himself. James McCarthy has had a good season at Everton so why not have another one?”
Quinn believes, meanwhile, that Martin O’Neill will maximise the upcoming four games to mould his Ireland team for the Euro 2016 qualifiers in September. Like many, he’d have liked to see tomorrow’s game of the series mark the return from self-imposed exile of Stephen Ireland but isn’t overly concerned with the midfielder’s snub.
“I was taken aback that he wouldn’t answer Martin’s calls,” admitted the Dubliner.
“When I see this whole Stephen Ireland situation, the first person I think of is Davy Langan who I played with in the early days.
“Langy would turn up hobbling and say he was fit and we’d all look at him and say ‘Langy, what are you doing?’ Somewhere between Davy’s and Stephen’s time, that has crept in.”
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