Keane on taking it to the next level
“Robbie’s a good player without a doubt,” said Keane, “and hopefully he’ll go on to the next level now because he’s been probably slightly behind the really top, top players. Then again, Tottenham aren’t bad, but if you go to Liverpool they’re expecting to win titles and European Cups, whereas at Tottenham maybe that wasn’t the case. So it’s a big challenge for him but I’m pretty sure Robbie will cause us problems like he did last year. He scored against us at White Hart Lane — even though the keeper should have saved us.”
Keane had his own Irishman topping the scoring charts in Turner’s Cross, Anthony Stokes netting a brace in a 4-0 win over Cobh, which also saw his compatriots Roy O’Donovan and Daryl Murphy on the scoresheet.
So much has been expected of Stokes, a former Irish Examiner National Junior Sports Star winner, for so long, but for the young Dubliner, who turned 20 last week, to take his own game to the next level — and perhaps even challenge Robbie Keane’s supremacy in the Irish shirt — his manager reckons he needs to develop one crucial trait.
“The magic word — consistency. The lad’s got talent but I think talent plays 5% of being a top, top footballer. Lots of players have talent. I’ve seen lads here in Cork that I played with who had more talent than me. But [making it] comes down to lots of different areas — your family, your belief, your desire to do well. Stokesy is as talented a kid as I’ve come across. And anyone who’s watched Irish football for the last four or five years will say the same. But he’s got to get the rest of it, in terms of mentality.
“I’ve got a lot of time for Stokesy. I don’t mind the fact that he can be a bit of a Jack the Lad — I was myself. You saw him against Cobh — there are times when you want to pull your hair out with Stokesy. But, remember, he’s still a young fella. Because he came on the scene, went up to Scotland, scored so many goals, we can all forget that he’s still just a young fella. So he’s got plenty of time on his side.
“There was an opportunity last year, towards the end of the season, when he could have gone on loan to Leeds and that might have done him a bit a good, but I was short of numbers. But he’s come back this season, he looks strong on the training pitch and he’s a talented boy. But ultimately it comes down to the player if he wants to be a top, top player and get up to Robbie Keane’s level.”
Keane also expressed his backing for last year’s signing from Cork City, Roy O’Donovan, and the player who has followed in his footsteps this season, David Meyler, though the latter, he notes, arrives at the Stadium of Light in quite different circumstances.
“Roy had played a fair few League of Ireland games and scored lots of goals and when we brought him over, he was straight away in the first team. Young Meyler is going to be slightly different, although he left a good impression with everybody against Cobh. So he’ll begin by working with the reserves but if he impresses me he’ll soon be playing with the first team.
“Roy has had a year with us now and we’re hoping he’ll kick on. When he came in last year we were struggling to create chances and he’d just had a tough season with Cork City but he’s had a good pre-season now. We’re all delighted with Roy’s attitude. There was a possibility he was going to go on loan — I still wouldn’t rule that out — but he’s lively and if he gets one or two chances, he knows where the back of the net is.”
On the transfer front, Keane denied that he’s keen on Luis Saha but said he expects to bring in four or five more players, including Totteham’s Kaboul and Malbranque if those deals can be finalised. Asked about the Reading two of Kevin Doyle and Stephen Hunt, he deadpanned: “Not tonight — but tomorrow might be different.”
He’s anxious not to conduct business through the media. “We’ve been linked to about 150 or 160 players,” he said. “And I know other managers do it but I don’t think it’s right for me to speak about players who are under contract at other football clubs. Again, if we’d agreed a price with their club I’d be quite happy to talk about them all day but until we do that, you’re getting nothing out of me. Last year I waited five weeks for (David) Nugent — I can I tell you I won’t be waiting five weeks this year for anyone.”
Keane also expects that some players will be moving the other way.
“That’s the other side I’m learning — you’ve got to try and balance the books a little bit. You can’t keep bringing in players on top of players. In our dressing room we’re running out of locker spaces anyway.”
Nor does the manager exempt himself from the need for change.
“Last year was my first year in the Premiership as a manager and if I make the same mistakes as I did last year, I’m in trouble. I made so many last year it’s unbelievable. But hopefully I’m slightly wiser. We’re judged on what we do on a Saturday but we’re making progress in all aspects of the club — the reserves, the academy, the scouting system and my backroom staff. The staff around me certainly makes me feel more confident we’re going to have a decent season — with the help of one or two more players.”
Once again, we’re back to the dominant theme — the goal of taking Sunderland to the fabled next level.
“Short term, that means not being involved in a relegation battle, even though we know it’s going to be tough,” says Keane. “When I signed for three years, (the goal was) first and foremost to get out of the Championship, which we did. Second year, make sure we stayed in the Premiership, which we did. The next level would certainly be looking at teams ahead of us. But I think it would be crazy to put a target on it. Last year we finished 15th and there’s no doubt in my mind we were the 15th best team. We want to be higher this year.”
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