Unresolved business to fire Dr Roy

TODAY'S kickabout between Manchester United and Shelbourne should be a lively affair but it will be nothing as fast or furious as the wrestling matches going on in the Tolka Park stands.

For among the visiting redshirts will be one Dr Roy Keane and the intra-cranial conflict his presence will create in the minds of the spectators will be only carnage.

To cheer or jeer? To forgive and forget or to fume and foam for all eternity? Or was there anything to forgive in the first place?

If the heart had hamstrings, it’d suffer a season’s worth of stretches and tears at the very thought of thrashing this one out. The news that Man United were on the way to Ireland for the pre-season friendly was like a box of fat Cuban cigars washing up on the beach of a shipwrecked smoker’s desert island.

Fans suffering cold turkey since the World Cup departed for Brazil, could ease their withdrawal symptoms by inhaling the sweet aroma of class football played out on home turf.

And Roy would be among them. Oh joy Roy. He of the flaming feet that make Michael Flatley look arthritic and creative talents that Van Gogh would have lopped off both ears to possess.

He who represents football of the finest, athleticism of the most admired and spirit of the kind that would put poitín makers out of business if bottled.

But an evil voice was whispering horrid things down the line as the engaged tone droned from the Shelbourne ticket line. Saipan, it sneered. That rush for the phone feelgood moment suddenly tripped over its shoelaces.

Keane’s first appearance on a football pitch since the dreaded day in May when Ireland’s World Cup preparations fell into disarray can not but bring back the memories and resurrect the row.

And the problem is, it can’t all be put behind us because the issues it raised are still all ahead of us. The independent inquiry ordered by the FAI into the Saipan affair has yet to get under way and then there is the minor matter of the European qualifiers coming up in the autumn.

Is an apology still necessary? Would it be accepted? Has Keane any interest in offering one or even in playing in an Irish shirt again? If there’s a truth and reconciliation commission in need of a subject to tackle, there’s one going spare at FAI headquarters.

In the meantime, there’s today’s match and the dilemma over the degree of excitement that should be displayed in greeting a certain star midfielder.

Some of the facts in the dispute are indisputable. Roy is a brilliant, inspirational and committed player and when he has something to say about his craft, it’s worth letting him make his point.

However, in Saipan he was also the captain and he failed to captain. He didn’t like the look of the ship so he headed for shore and watched it sail away, knowing it might sink without him. Some say the ship’s owner sent him ashore; others he already had a leg over the edge before he got his marching orders.

Either way the gangplank was down long enough for him to climb back on board and take the wheel. That the rest of the crew managed to steer through stormy waters without his expertise is a credit to their determination and commitment.

Maybe the ship wasn’t entirely seaworthy and maybe on principle the correct thing to do was stay on dry land but the thrill of the ocean comes with getting your feet wet.

Drowning in maritime imagery doesn’t do much to advance the argument one way or another, however, so for today’s match there’s only way to stop a pounding headache developing before the game even begins.

Everyone says Roy loves football and his country. So let his countrymen cheer for his footballing and leave the rest to be sorted out in some other arena.