Keane ‘biggest victim of World Cup bust-up’
Quinn has been criticised by Keane for what the Manchester United star saw as his siding with Ireland boss Mick McCarthy following the row, but hit back by claiming Keane’s “unforgiving attitude” made him too much of an individual in a team sport.
“Roy is the biggest victim of all here. We’ll never have to deal with the hurt he’s suffering,” said Quinn, in an extract from his forthcoming autobiography. “No matter how sorry the rest of us were feeling for ourselves, we had a great World Cup. There was a feeling of a job well done in difficult circumstances. Roy just has an empty hole.
“When all the anger dies down, he will have to live with the fact that he was in his prime. He had the opportunity to confirm his standing in world football. And he somehow got himself into the position to walk away from it.” However, Quinn has confessed that the showdown was fuelled in some part by a huge drinking binge by all of the players, except Keane.
Drinking until 6am had an adverse effect on the players, said Quinn, and Keane’s temper with the lethargic team quickly reached boiling point.
The Sunderland striker’s testimony of that fateful World Cup team meeting comes in the second of three football autobiographies. Keane’s account hit the book-shelves last month, and Mick McCarthy’s book is due to be published next month.
Quinn revealed McCarthy was “on the floor” after being on the receiving end of a 10-minute verbal attack from Keane during the infamous team meeting in Saipan which sealed Keane’s fate. “It was the eloquent tone of Keane’s speech that was 100 times worse. If you sit down and dissect, and tear, and shred the living daylights out of the man who is supposed to be in charge of all this, and you do it systematically and brutally ... Mick was on the floor. There was shock in the room.
“People talk about Irish patriot Robert Emmet’s speech from the dock. They talk about the oratory of Brendan Behan, Eamon de Valera, Michael Collins. But Roy Keane’s 10-minute oration can be mentioned in the same breath.
“It was clinical, fierce, earth-shattering to the person on the end of it and it ultimately caused a huge controversy in Irish society.
“We’ve had the Maastricht Treaty; we’ve had divorce; we’ve had referendums on abortion. We’ve had changes of government over the past 20 years you wouldn’t believe. We’ve had an influx of investment and wealth in the country. We’re kind of cocky as a nation right now. But this thing stopped the country in its tracks like nothing had ever done, and it’s still going on.”
Quinn has tried to patch things up with his former captain, even after being labelled a “coward” and a “muppet” by Keane.
He grabbed his opportunity when Sunderland met Manchester United in the Premiership last month.
As Keane was leaving the pitch following his sending off for elbowing another Saipan witness, Jason McAteer, Quinn ran to the touchline to shake his hand.
“I wanted to say a few words, but all I got out of my mouth was: ‘We’ve had three months of s*** Roy.’
“I was just about to say sorry for all the mistakes I’d made when Fergie came flying out.
“He thought I was trying to goad Roy into punching me or something, taking the mick out of him. He totally misread the situation.”
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