Say Hello, Wave Goodbye

IT WAS a wet and humid day in August of 1993 and the setting was the Manchester hotel room which Roy Keane was temporarily calling home.

Keane, who had turned 22 a couple of days earlier, had already experienced his first taste of success with his new club Manchester United, as a member of the victorious Charity Shield side. Now he was gearing up for the season proper. But there were also more practical matters to consider. The local paper on the bed, opened to the property pages, spoke of an urgent desire to make himself a permanent base.

Having been tipped off by a mutual acquaintance in Manchester about the hotel where he was staying, I’d taken the chance of ringing up and asking to speak to Roy Keane. To my surprise, I was put straight through and, far from being annoyed at the intrusion, the summer’s most talked about signing seemed only too happy to have the Sunday Press soccer correspondent around for a chat.

I’d first interviewed him when he was at Nottingham Forest — a couple of week’s before he played in the ‘Gazza’ Cup Final — but I think his eagerness to talk now was less about renewing not so old acquaintance than a simple desire to break the monotonous routine of hotel life. His room had that air of organised chaos about it which attends all those whose profession embraces the nomadic lifestyle. The tray containing the debris of a room service meal, the television humming in the background, the piles of clothing and mountains of luggage — all bespoke a man on the move.

But one item in the room magnetised the eye — carefully draped over the back of a chair was his Manchester United Charity Shield shirt, a special edition version whose sleeve insignia proclaimed United’s status as 1993 league champions. Keane fingered the garment with pride. This, after all, was a tangible symbol of what had brought him to this Manchester hotel room after one of the most protracted transfer sagas in years. He could have gone to Blackburn for bigger bucks in the short term, but he opted for Manchester United and glory in the long term.

“For a while I didn’t know whether I was coming or going,” he admitted. “I was in two minds for a while. Blackburn are a good team and they will do well this year, but I suddenly realised that I would always regret it if I turned down the chance to play for Manchester United. It’s true that I agreed personal terms with (Blackburn manager) Kenny Dalglish but, all along, I made it clear that I was still keeping my options open before signing. There was a lot of talk in the papers about United but, in fact, they were fairly slow in approaching me. But as soon as they did I couldn’t really say no.

“I was in Cork when I got the phone call from Alex Ferguson, and when he told me that United wanted me, well, it was unbelievable really. I was hyper after he rang me, all the family were. It was brilliant.” With a record-breaking £3.75 million price tag attached, Keane had a lot to live up to. Not that he took the figures too seriously.

“I think it’s crazy money,” he told me. “And already I read people saying I’m not worth it. But that’s what the clubs agreed, it’s not up to me. If it was up to me I’d say I was probably worth what I went to Nottingham from Cobh for — a £15,000 down payment! But my hope is that in the long term — over the years not over the first few weeks or months — people will look back and say I was worth the money.”

It was also clear, he said, that his new team mates were not overawed by the hype surrounding his move. “If I give a bad ball in training, the shout is ‘How much?’” he grinned. “When I first signed I was brought into the dressing room and introduced to the players, but they were all in the bath so it was a bit awkward. I couldn’t just go over and shake hands with everyone. Anyway, the manager said, ‘This is Roy’, I said ‘Howya lads,’ and a voice from the bath went, ‘Lend us a fiver, would you Roy?’ That was it, that was my start, the first words any player ever said to me at Manchester United.”

Joking aside, Keane felt strongly that he had his work cut out to make an impression in a championship-winning side which already contained Cantona, Giggs, Hughes, Schmeichel, Ince and Robson.

“The talent in the squad is unbelievable,” the new boy swooned. “In the first couple of weeks in the five-a-sides I wasn’t even getting a kick, just running around in circles trying to get the ball off players. I was coming back to the hotel thinking, ‘I’m out of my depth here’. But that was only for the first few days. Obviously, I’m getting more settled in now.

“When I came here and said that I would have to battle for my place, people laughed at me and said that United hadn’t paid that much money for me to sit on the bench. But then look who was sitting on the bench for the Charity Shield — Bryan Robson, Brian McClair, Lee Sharpe. Then there were the players who travelled and didn’t even get stripped — Clayton Blackmore, Mickey Phelan, Dion Dublin. It’s such an incredible squad and there are some great young players coming through too.

“What I’ve done for three years at Forest has virtually gone out the window. This is a new start for me now and it’s going to be hard. I know how hard it will be. But I think I’m ready for it”.

From Brian Clough to Alex Ferguson — how was Keane handling the transition from one high-profile boss to another? “Obviously, they’re different,” he replied. “Brian Clough was more laid back but hard in his own way. Alex Ferguson is hard — hard but fair. Which is what you need at a club like this because they’ve got such high standards there.”

In a foretaste of what he would do to maximise his fitness and powers of recovery much later in his career, he spoke of how he was already learning to take better care of himself. “I think I can improve in lots of areas, ” he said. “I don’t think I rested enough between matches last year so I’m going to rest more. I spoke to a dietician the other day and I’m going to eat a bit better too”.

I asked Keane about his hopes for the next 12 months. Grinning, he replied: “Yeah, well my dream is to win the League, the League Cup, the European Cup, the FA Cup and the World Cup — but my main aim is to get in the starting line-up against Norwich next week and after that against Sheffield United. And then the same for the match after that and the match after that…”

The first steps of a great season for Roy Keane?

“Hopefully,” he mused. “If not I’ll be playing in the rezzies.”

And there’s some good players in that team too, I pointed out.

“That’s a thought. I could end up not even getting a game for the reserves.”