Keane’s talk on the wild side

WHERE would we be without him? Just when you think you’ve exhausted all the Irish managerial possibilities, and the back pages are threatening to show a bare look, up pops Keano to send us all hurtling back into a headline frenzy.

“Roy’s Rage.” Now, where have we heard that one before? The player’s latest state of the Man United nation address sounds like it was well up to form, yet another no-holds barred dissection of an Old Trafford malaise which Doctor Keane has previously identified as a lack of the right stuff among both fellow players and even the fans. This time, he apparently went further, naming and shaming, it is said, among others, Liam Miller and John O’Shea. One quote attributed to Keane about an as yet unnamed player was that “his attitude stinks.” And there was you thinking that the old boy had mellowed.

But before we get carried away, perhaps it’s worth inserting a health warning: unless and until such time as the MUTV tape or an accurate transcript is released or leaked, we can’t be sure of what exactly Keane said. Remember Saipan? Within 24 hours of that behind closed doors meeting, the papers were full of reports stating - as a matter of incontrovertible fact - that Keane had questioned Mick McCarthy’s Irishness. He hadn’t - although what he did have to say was corrosive enough.

So what’s Keane got to say this time? There’s a big difference between criticising a player’s form and stating definitively that he’s not good enough for United, and in the absence of any reliable evidence, it’s not clear on which side Keane came down with the heavy boot. For example, it would be a shock if he went so far as to suggest that John O’Shea has no future at Old Trafford, since the Corkman has long been considered one of O’Shea’s most public supporters.

Nevertheless, if most sources are to be believed, it seems pretty clear that Keane was at least less than complimentary about a number of players - and who could really blame him? After all, Keane is only saying what many fans believe and what Alex Ferguson himself must realise - even if the boss clearly doesn’t want to hear it coming from the mouth of his captain.

United’s decision to block the interview smacks of the kind of panic reaction that will only cause them further grief in the long run. History shows that it’s invariably the cover-up rather than the conspiracy which comes unstuck and, in an age in which money still can’t buy you love but can certainly buy you a front page scoop, it’s probably only a matter of time before the Keanegate tapes are up for public consumption.

Meantime, we’re left with the disquieting impression of a club reeling from one crisis to another. Roy Keane may have thought he was addressing precisely that reality but the timing and effect of his intervention - coupled with the club’s paranoid response - has served only to make a bad situation worse.

Following their hammering by Middlesbrough, nobody could possibly disagree with a damning indictment of the state of play at Old Trafford, so if reports of Keane’s broadside are reliable even in the most general sense, you can argue that all he has done is speak the truth. To the extent that football people are often slow to express themselves openly, irrespective of gagging orders, Keane’s habit of speaking his mind without fear or favour has often been admirable.

But rigorous honesty must also be balanced against prudence and even a sense of the greater good, and in that context it’s frankly hard to see how another two-footed lunge at his own team mates, is meant to inspire a squad already crippled by a host of problems.

It also raises questions about Keane’s own managerial aspirations. It’s long been a basic tenet of management that sensitive or contentious team issues remain in the dressing room. Journalists may not like it and the fans may feel excluded but, from the point of view of morale, it would seem to make total sense. It’s one thing for the hair-dryer to be activated behind closed doors, quite another for it to be turned to full blast in front of a watching world.

Keane seems happy enough to deliver his “bollockings” - thoughtful and articulate though they may be - in full public view, and it’s hard to see how that would inspire admiration or respect from any team he may manage.

One thing’s for sure; we won’t be seeing a double act of Keano and Fergie leading the boys in green any time soon. The story, soon after Brian Kerr’s dismissal, that the FAI had targeted Fergie and Keane as their “dream team” always had a fairytale look about it. Now, it’s starting to resemble a horror story, but one in which all the screams will be at Old Trafford, where the only question seems to be which one of the two will flee the haunted house first.

For United, tonight’s Champions’ League game against Lille offers an opportunity to create a good news story for a change. Anything less than a convincing performance and three points, and the dark clouds will gather again.

As for Keane, one notes that his banned broadcast was on a show called ‘Plays The Pundit’. Should Keane ever decide to go into television full time, Eamon Dunphy would do well to watch his back.