Alex Ferguson: Roy’s retirement from game was discussed

ALEX FERGUSON insisted yesterday that Roy Keane’s u-turn on his international future “had nothing to do” with the Manchester United manager.

Ferguson and the Old Trafford giants launched a counter offensive yesterday amid growing

unease at the plausibility of Keane’s official decision to retire from international football, citing medical personnel at the club who were “sufficiently concerned” about the dangers of additional matches with the Republic to advise him against a return to the Irish fold.

Said the United manager: “This is a straightforward medical decision regarding Roy’s long-term ability to play. It has nothing to do with me.

“I’d have liked him to play for Ireland. After the situation that had arisen at the World Cup we all wanted him to play for Ireland again. But this was a major operation. It’s one of the new injuries.

“At 31, Roy now has to have careful preparation for every match and after every game.”

The United manager also went into explicit detail about the possible fallout of excessive wear and tear on Keane after extensive hip surgery last September.

“The orthopaedic surgeon said it was a serious, potentially career-threatening injury,” explained a club statement.

“The possibility of retirement from the game was discussed but Roy decided that this was not the course of action he wanted to take.”

United profess to be pleased with the player’s recovery but an Old Trafford medical team, including Dr Mike Stone and physio Rob Swire, were sufficiently concerned about the damage extra

international fixtures could cause to rule out the prospect of a return altogether.

“With slow and very careful rehabilitation, Roy has made a good recovery from surgery,” added the statement. “It is self-evident that being able to give Roy periods of rest if his hip becomes a problem is likely to prolong his career. This is possible within a club situation.

“The break he gets during

international games can only be of benefit to him. From a strictly medical viewpoint, once the decision to continue playing was taken, any way of limiting the number of games he plays is in Roy’s best interests.”

While insisting he would have been perfectly happy for Keane to resume his Ireland career after his sensational World Cup walk-out last summer, Ferguson was keen to stress how troublesome his captain’s rehabilitation has been.

Freddie Ljungberg and Robbie Fowler have both struggled to return from similar problems and although Keane appears to have made a full recovery, his preparation for games has to be strictly controlled.

Former Irish striker, Frank Stapleton believes Keane’s decision to quit the Republic is the correct one on the basis that fans seldom understand the “unseen” demands of the international game.

“It is not just the travelling involved with international football, it’s the mental and physical pressure,” he said.

“The expectation of the Irish fans is enormous and Roy’s style of play means it is bound to take a lot out of him. Ireland’s next two qualifying games are a double-header in Georgia and Albania, which are hardly the most hospitable places in the world, and Roy probably feels his career would be better served by not putting himself through it all.”

Stapleton believes Keane’s contribution to the Irish cause should not be overshadowed by the row with Mick McCarthy. “What happened during the World Cup wasn’t very satisfactory but it could be argued that without Roy in the team, Ireland wouldn’t have even qualified,” he said.

“If he hadn’t been in the teams which played Holland and Portugal, Ireland wouldn’t have got anything from those games.

“Players like Roy don’t come along very often, especially in a country like Ireland, and while there is some promising talent in the squad now, they haven’t reached his level yet.”

The ultimate winners, Stapleton agreed, will be United. After missing four months of the campaign following hip surgery, Keane is starting to rediscover the form which has made him such a key member of Ferguson’s squad for almost a decade.

“Not having Roy playing internationals will be a huge benefit for United,” said Stapleton. “They will get the type of performance he produced in the Worthington Cup tie at Blackburn more often because he will always be fresh.

“It’s a sub-conscious thing but when you go away, your performance level tends to drop when you come back because it breaks up your usual training routine.”