I often felt like doing a Cantona, admits Roy

ROY KEANE has admitted that the abuse he suffered as a player almost drove him to “do an Eric Cantona”.

The Sunderland manager’s revelation came after Portsmouth’s England defender Sol Campbell spoke out this week about the abuse players and managers endure from fans as he called for tougher action to stamp it out.

Keane was a Manchester United teammate of Cantona when the Frenchman infamously lunged kung-fu fashion into the crowd at Crystal Palace in response to flak from a supporter.

And Keane yesterday declared: “I agree with him (Campbell), but as soon as you say that, people say you’ve got to accept it because you’re in the public eye and getting well paid.

“I know Harry Redknapp was annoyed with some of the abuse he got at Villa Park recently. Different people get different abuse — Graeme Le Saux used to get abused for some stuff and I’ve been abused everywhere.

“Whether it be because you’re Irish or they hear something or believe something, whatever it might be.

“Sometimes it’s over the top, but what can you do? Are you going to eject 40,000 or 50,000 supporters for abusing a player or a manager? It’s very hard to deal with.

“They love that one about this racism stuff, but there’s lots of other stuff going on. Players are getting lots of stick about different things.

“Arsene Wenger used to get lots of abuse from Manchester United fans, didn’t he? It’s wrong, but that’ll never change. I’m sure in the 60s and 70s it was the same.

“I’m an ex-United player and at particular grounds — Liverpool, Arsenal — you’re going to get dog’s abuse. I don’t take it personally. You try to forget about it, but sometimes you react — you’re human. Ashley Cole reacted last weekend, then people want you to be fined and hammered and banned. I think you should be allowed to give a little bit back — I do.

“I wanted to do an Eric Cantona loads of times. ! Maybe it’s easier for the younger players. They’re the ones who tend not to get a hammering. It’s usually built up over a few years — that’s when eventually someone like Eric, at that time, thinks enough is enough.

“For me, it was Irish stuff, after the World Cup, being an ex-United player when we went to Arsenal.

“But there’s nothing in particular which has annoyed me because I might have done something about it.

“I don’t think I’ve ever reacted to the crowd, have I? The best way to react is by beating them, keeping the ball, scoring a goal, making a tackle, winning the game. That shuts them up.

“In other sports — hockey, American football, basketball — we’ve seen people going into the crowd and fighting. I don’t sit there shocked. You can see somebody has had enough.

“You can see it with managers. I saw Brian Clough go on to the pitch after a Cup game against QPR and smack two supporters. It’s just the mood he was in. As he said, they ran on to his pitch. It was like running on to his garden — get off.

“The people who got the smack probably thought he was right. They shouldn’t be running on the pitch and doing that sort of thing.

“Most footballers should enjoy the stage, home and away. The best feeling in the world away from home is when you score a goal or keep the ball and it goes quiet. It’s fantastic. Your supporters are outnumbered. You’re on stage and you’re performing.”

Keane takes his struggling side to Reading today insisting he won’t be pressured into a major transfer market plunge next month.

Chairman Niall Quinn has a £20m kitty at Keane’s disposal, but the Black Cats’ boss said: “There is an expectation about January, that we should be bringing in certain players or spending a certain amount of money.

“But we won’t go down that road. When you’re near the bottom of the league, there’s a feeling you need to do something, to create something, but you have to say no, no. If we don’t get players we want, we’ll stay as we are.

“We’ve been linked with lots of players. We’ve been linked with 15 or 20, but we’re not signing that many.

“Managers are under pressure to make signings. I’ve felt that build up in the last week or two.

“But then, after that, you might say, ‘He’s not really the type of player we were after, now he’s on a two or three -year deal, on big money, cost a big fee. Lots of clubs are after players and January is the most difficult time.”

Keane has admitted he expects one or two outgoings on Wearside, but asked about Chelsea’s interest in £6m striker Kenwyne Jones, he had a blunt message: “Kenwyne’s going nowhere.”