Roy Keane: "I hear players saying after defeats ‘there’s always next year’ but there isn’t"

Will his stint as assistant to Martin O’Neill be Roy Keane’s last job in management? Doubtful. Do I see myself going back into management? Yeah. And I think there will be a job out there for me.

Q: Are Irish players better off going to England later like you did?

A: “Not necessarily. If a 16-year-old is offered a contract by a Premier League club – and remember there’s silly money involved nowadays – I wouldn’t tell them to say no.

“Everyone has their own path. Going to Forest late suited my personality and I’d had a good year playing League of Ireland for Cobh Ramblers, coming up against hard men in their thirties and it benefited me. English clubs are still interested in Irish kids. There’s a big scouting network in Ireland.”

Q: What advice would you give any players in the modern era?

A: “Players have to learn from their own mistakes but the only advice I’d give to young player is to get a good accountant. There’s a lot of people out there ready to take your money so that’s important. I see Irish players in the hotel with their agents but I don’t get involved.

“My former Forest team-mate Des Walker was recently asked that question about his son who has broken into the first team. All he said was ‘don’t get married’.”

#RoyKeane tells @cooper_m that he isn't a @ManUtd fan... #Barretstowntalks pic.twitter.com/Z2PrnOBHF1

— Today FM 💛 (@TodayFM) June 25, 2015

Q: What caused you to support Tottenham?

A: “I had a soft spot for Spurs, and still do. Just because I played for Manchester United didn’t mean I was a fan of the team. Of course, if they’re playing Liverpool these days, I’d want United to win. But when I left a club, I broke my ties. When I played for Rockmount, one of my team-mate’s fathers used to bring me to training and he supported Tottenham. That’s where it started. I liked their players, the likes of Glenn Hoddle and Clive Allen.

“But after I’d come back from trial at Nottingham Forest, Spurs offered me a trial. I turned it down because Forest had been good me, I liked the club and felt some loyalty to them.”

Q: Was Brian Clough right to hit you in the dressing-room in 1991?

A: “At the time, I was shocked but, thinking about it later, he probably was right. We played Crystal Palace and, when I hit a back-pass, our goalkeeper Mark Crossley was slow coming out and John Salako lobbed the ball in from about 40 yards. I got the blame. The manager punched me in the chest. Back then, after every match, win or lose, we’d all go out and hit the booze. But that night I stayed in.”

We're renaming this Barretstown LAUGHS... #Barretstowntalks with @cooper_m & #RoyKeane pic.twitter.com/G8fD2tghtW

— Today FM 💛 (@TodayFM) June 25, 2015

Q: What was the biggest thing you learned from Brian Clough?

A: “To keep things simple. Don’t complicate it. On the night of my debut at Anfield, he asked could I control the ball, pass. I said ‘yeah, I can do that’.

“To this day, I’ve kept to that. People still ask what was Clough’s secret to success but there was nothing complicated about it. I’ve carried that statement throughout my career, even into punditry.”

Q: Are you a patient person?

A: “I was as a player. When I went to Forest, I didn’t expect to be in the first-team so quickly. I was patient going to Manchester United about finding my feet. The same with the Ireland senior squad. Remember, I was trying to break into a squad that had done well at the 1990 World Cup. In fact, I made my debut after a few players had been injured.

“The only time I became impatient with myself was as manager. I wish I was easier on myself.”

Q: Do you still regret being suspended for 1999 Champions League final?

A: “No. When I got booked in the first leg of the quarter-final against Inter Milan, I really wondered could I get through the next three games before the final without another yellow card. I played the game on the edge so one of my strengths was being able to take medicine when it came. Part of my package was tackling.

“I didn’t feel great on the night of the final but, don’t forget, I was injured. Gary Speed had done my ankle in the FA Cup final so I wouldn’t have played anyway.

“The biggest thing for me was I expected us to get back into the final again. We slipped up in semi-finals we should have won and never got there. I hear players saying after defeats ‘there’s always next year’ but there isn’t.”

Q: Manchester United were tight with cash, they blamed your new contract on increasing season tickets. How did that make you feel?

A: “I think that was out of order. It was never about greed for me, just fighting my corner. I could have got more money by signing for Blackburn but I got my own back on United in the later contract negotiations.”

Q: Do you still get criticism in public?

A: “Listen, I bump into a lot of idiots. If they are polite it’s no problem, but some come up in a different angle, whether there has been drink involved and maybe because they saw you 10 years ago you owe them something. People have hang-ups about you, but I’m ready. I spot them a mile away and I can tell by the way they are walking up to me, I’m thinking ‘here we go’. And that’s just the women!”

Q: How do you escape from football?

A: “I’ve actually adapted to life after football much better than I expected. Sometimes I wish that I could be playing but I look back on my career with great happiness.

“I spend a lot of time with my family and do my bit of travelling. I’d go to watch other sports or even a game in Spain on my own. People were calling me a lunatic earlier in my playing career but, after sorting things out, I was labelled a loner. You just can’t win sometimes.

“I’m enjoying my job with Ireland, especially working with Martin O’Neill. But if the FAI don’t keep us after this campaign, I’ll be fine. I’m very content. Long term, do I see myself going back into management? Yeah. And I think there will be a job out there for me.

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll survive.”

Roy Keane was speaking at the first in the series of Barretstown Talks, a series of indepth conversations with leading figures from the world of sport, culture and business. Barretstown offer a programme of therapeutic recreation for children with cancer and other life threatening illnesses. All children and their families attend camp at Barretstown free of charge.