‘Frightened’ Murphy Keane to impress
Keane only finalised his deal after Monday’s victory over West Brom, the Black Cats’ first points of the season, but the Manchester United legend was introduced to his new players on the previous day.
“He didn’t say much, we were introduced to him briefly and he shook hands with everyone. I’ll be honest, I was a bit frightened,” said Waterford man Murphy, who came off the bench against the Baggies.
“It has given everyone a lift. I think we needed something like that with the experience he is going to give us. He is not going to settle for anything but the best from us and everyone is ready to work hard for him. We’ve already started.
“It was a buzz to see someone of his character and to know he is going to manage us, it’s something we’re really looking forward to.”
Murphy added: “That was our best game for a number of years, so he knows what we’re capable of.
“I think we’ve set the standard but we would like to improve on that. We have to take that great performance into each game now.”
Murphy expects the level of professionalism to be raised throughout the club.
The 23-year-old said: “It’s great for the club but it’s also great from my point of view, being Irish, and to work with Roy will be fantastic. He’s someone I’ve looked up to while growing up, everyone knows all about him and I’m looking forward to working with him.
“We’re going to be working with one of the best players who has ever played, it’s going to be great for everyone — it’s all about standards from now.”
Keane has also been praised by the League Managers’ Association for his determination to acquire the top coaching qualifications.
The new Sunderland boss has already passed his B licence and is now working towards his A licence and UEFA Pro-licence.
LMA chief executive John Barnwell explained: “Roy Keane has set his stall out and is doing the thing in the proper manner.
“Being a football manager is a difficult job and while qualifications do not give you a guarantee of success, they give you a better chance.
“In the Football League there are no mandatory qualifications for managers — it’s only in the Premier League at the moment — but if you aspire to work at the top, you have to be ahead of the game.
“Once Roy gets the UEFA Pro-licence, he will be able to coach anywhere in Europe. They are much stricter on the continent than we are in this country but hopefully we are going down that road ourselves, because that is the right way to go.”
Keane is one of a number of people to take advantage of a scheme by the Professional Footballers’ Association to offer players the opportunity to gain coaching qualifications.
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