Keane faces up to his darkest day

ROY KEANE’S character is entirely shaped by his high standards, from the vast array of medals he has stashed in a draw somewhere to his volcanic reaction when others have not reached his expectations.

But his response to watching his newly-promoted side being shredded before his eyes reflects his other main character trait: brutal honesty.

The bravest man in the world on Saturday was the policeman who knocked on Sunderland’s dressing room door at 5.45pm to remind Keane that the team coach’s escort was due to leave in 15 minutes.

While Keane has shown he is not the type of manager to scream and shout, he can not be accused of not being forthright in his assessment of his team or himself.

He said: “I wouldn’t say I’m shocked because in the Premiership against a good team like Everton, if you’re giving away the goals we’re giving away, you should never be shocked in football. It has the great habit of kicking you right in the teeth. We’ve seen that with other managers this week. Now it’s my turn and it hurts like hell.

“I can’t dress it up because it’s a major disappointment. If we maintain ourselves in the Premiership then we can look back at the Everton game and see it as a massive learning curve.

“You hope you can learn from these set-backs because if life was all about highs then we wouldn’t enjoy it because we wouldn’t know what a low was. I hope this is as low as it gets.”

With just two wins in the Premier League all season and a vital game against fellow-strugglers Derby next week, this is a key phase in Keane’s development as a manager.

All but two of the players in his starting line-up on Saturday are his signings and, with 22 goals conceded in eight away matches this season, questions are rightly being asked about his judgement in the transfer market.

The striker Kenwyne Jones has justified the €9million Keane paid Southampton in the summer but at €7.5 million, Michael Chopra looks like an expensive mistake. He has not scored since the second game of the season, is without confidence and was guilty of a shocking miss at Goodison Park, scooping wide of an open goal from just five yards out.

Ian Harte was embarrassed time and again by Mikel Arteta and the Irish defender Paul McShane had a hand in four of Everton’s goals as Sunderland showed themselves completely incapable of defending straight long balls.

The reaction Keane, who is refusing to discuss what options might be available to him in January, drags out of his players this week could go a long way to determining Sunderland’s season.

He added: “I had set-backs in my playing days. I lost major games, had bad injuries, and you look back on your career and hope there will only be four or five major set-backs but it’s not about my feelings or my set-backs, it’s about Sunderland.

“Sunderland Football Club is a hell of a lot bigger than Roy Keane so I’m going to relish it and enjoy it and try to get Sunderland back where they belong which is in the top half of the Premiership.

“I knew there would be set-backs and this is certainly a set-back but again I always try and judge and gauge people I look up to by how they react to it and that no doubt will be in a positive way and we’ll see over the next few days.”

Everton, now with six wins in seven, were not good opposition for a team looking to end a winless a seven-match winless run and with just a quarter of an hour gone, everyone could see that would soon become eight.

Manager David Moyes, who now has serious competition in his squad, was rightly bullish afterwards, admitting this was the best performance of his five and a half years in charge.

Who ever said five-man midfields make for dull football? With Yakubu on his own up front and Lee Carsley sitting in front of the defence, Moyes’ four other midfielders Arteta, Tim Cahill, Steven Pienaar and Leon Osman can carve teams to pieces with their movement and vision.

McShane swung and missed at a Tim Howard punt to allow Yakubu in behind to open the scoring despite hitting his shot into the ground in the 12th minute.

Cahill added a second five minutes later after a fine passing move orchestrated by Arteta, involving four players before the Australian turned and shot.

Pienaar scored a third after swapping passes with Nuno Valente, although Dwight Yorke pulled one back in first-half added time.

Cahill restored the three-goal lead just after the hour with McShane again looking sluggish and Yakubu added his second with a quarter of an hour left.

No longer guaranteed a starting place, Andy Johnson came off the bench to race clear and score before Osman ran unchallenged to grab a seventh.

Despite the grim outlook, Keane’s old Manchester United team-mate Phil Neville believes the Irishman will turn the Black Cats around.

The Everton skipper said: “Everyone knows Roy Keane’s work ethic, his drive and determination, and that is going to shine through more than ever now.

“They’ve got a fight on their hands, but if you wanted someone at the helm to lead you into battle, you couldn’t wish for anyone better than Roy.”

EVERTON (4-5-1): Howard 6, Neville 7, Yobo 7(Jagielka 81, 6), Lescott 7, Nuno Valente 8, Arteta 9, Carsley 7, Osman 7, Pienaar 8, Cahill 9 (Anichebe 74, 6), Yakubu 8 (Johnson 74, 7).

Subs Not Used: Wessels, Gravesen.

SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon 6, Whitehead 6, McShane 3, Higginbotham 4, Harte 3, Edwards 5, Etuhu 4 (Wallace 46, 6), Yorke 5 (Collins 46, 5), Leadbitter 5, Chopra 4 (Cole 67, 6), Jones 5.

Subs Not Used: Ward, O’Donovan.

REFEREE: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire) 6: Let the game flow but could have given Everton two penalties which you have to suspect he may have awarded had the game been closer.

MATCH RATING **** Embarrassing for Sunderland, who must strengthen defensively in January, but Everton are looking up.

Hits and misses

Roy Keane spent almost €50m this summer, but his record has been mixed.

HIT Kenwyne Jones (€9m): Striker has scored five goals this season.

MISS: Michael Chopra (€7.5m): Scored in his first two matches but none since.

HIT: Craig Gordon (€13.5m): Expensive, but has proved his worth.

MISS: Andy Cole (free): Has made just one sub’s appearance since joining.

MISS: Kieran Richardson (€7.75m): Currently injured after suffering a stress fracture.

MISS: Paul McShane (€3.75m): Impresses occasionally, but generally unreliable this season.