Keane ready for battle of the bosses

ROY KEANE says that he is relishing pitting his wits against other managers in the Premiership but expects that the rivalry in the top-flight will be more lethal than it was in the Championship.

“I enjoyed my relationship with the managers in the Championship, meeting them after the match for a drink when you’d often see a different manager to what you see on the sideline,” says the Sunderland boss. “But I think the Premiership is going to be a bit more lethal. I don’t think it will be that friendly.”

Asked if he thinks that some of the game’s established managers will fear being upstaged by the rookie Premiership gaffer, Keane is emphatic: “That’s what I want to do: upstage all of them, by us winning matches. And hopefully we will upset one or two of them, just like I get upset when we get beaten. You need an edge.”

Keane believes that there can be merit to managerial mind games beyond merely filling column inches.

“I think there probably is a place for it. Obviously, Alex Ferguson has done it a lot. I enjoy it, I enjoy watching it. And I think it can have an impact on how teams perform, very much so. Whether on your own team or on the opposition. You’ve seen it with Mourinho. And Mourinho does it very well, I have to say. Maybe not last year because a lot of people underestimated Alex Ferguson.

“The mental side of (the game) is massive. I got the impression that before when they were in the Premiership, Sunderland went to grounds bringing their cameras and wanting to swap jerseys instead of believing that they were there on merit. What we’ve been drilling into our players is that they’re there on merit. Obviously you respect the opposition but you don’t go anywhere in awe of any team, far from it. And that’s part of my job as manager to make sure that they’re ready for it. And I think I’ve always been switched on like that, even from a young age.”

Speaking at a training session in Turner’s Cross yesterday ahead of tonight’s friendly against Cork City, Keane also revealed that the greening of Sunderland has extended to the arrival of hurling on the training pitch.

“We’ve introduced some hurleys and sliotars for pre-season and one or two of them have been having a go. We like to challenge the players in different environments. But when I say a challenge, I mean they were only messing around on the training pitch. We didn’t throw them into a Munster final or anything like that. Some of them enjoyed it, some of them avoided it. Murph (Daryl Murphy) looks as if he can handle a hurley, Yorkie (Dwight Yorke) didn’t have a clue what to do.”

Keane added that he hoped the players might get a chance to see some of the hurling on TV yesterday after training so they could learn about a different sport and “watch some tough men battle it out with each other.”

Sunderland have had little time for socialising on their tour but the manager allowed that on Wednesday night in Galway the players might get a chance to “sample a Guinness.”

Before that, there’s more work to be done at Turner’s Cross this evening when, amongst other things, Keane will renew old acquaintance with Cork City’s Colin Healy.

“Colin’s had his disappointments with injuries and there’s no doubt he had the potential to be a top, top player,” he said of his fellow Cork man. “That’s the other side, the downside of football. People think all footballers are multi-millionaires who drive flash cars. They’re not. There’s lads who finish earlier with injury. I’m looking forward to seeing Colin ‘cos no doubt he is still a good player but you need a bit of luck in this game.”

Asked what kind of reception he expected at Turner’s Cross this evening, Keane said: “A few boos and a few claps like last night.”

Had he been surprised by the booing at Dalymount Park? “No, every club has a few scumbags,” came the sharp response.

But, just for the record, is Roy Keane really expecting some boos at Turner’s Cross this evening? Cork’s favourite son allowed himself a small smile. “No,” he admitted, to laughter all around.