Losing '100 times worse' for Keane the manager

Roy Keane admits the pain of defeat has worsened since he became a manager.

Keane was on the losing side for the first time as Sunderland boss last weekend when his side went down 3-1 at Sheffield Wednesday.

For a man whose intensity was renowned as a player, defeat was always hard to bear – but as he prepared the Black Cats for tomorrow’s visit of Sheffield Wednesday, the 35-year-old revealed it hurts a lot more when you are in charge.

Asked how he reacted as a player, he said: “Not very well, no – and it is worse as a manager, definitely worse. A hundred times, I would say.

“You have just got to get on with it. As a manager, you are more responsible for everything at the club, so it hurts a lot more.

“But it makes you even more determined that it does not happen again.”

Despite the occupational hazard of occasional defeat, Keane knows he is in the right job.

“Even after the game on Saturday night – as much as it was hurting me, I thought: ‘I would not want to be anywhere else’. This is where I am; this is the challenge for me at this moment in time.

“I have to say I could not be happier – not with the defeat, but with the challenge that lies ahead.”

Sunderland revealed yesterday that chairman Niall Quinn’s Drumaville consortium have gained total control of the club – a move which will allow them to inject greater investment. That in itself may increase expectation.

Keane, meanwhile, said: “The hard work started the day we took over.

“It is important you do not get too carried away by a victory or too down by the defeat last week.

“Even after the result last week, things have panned out probably roughly the way I thought they would in the first month or two.”

Wednesday will arrive on Wearside lying second from bottom in the Coca-Cola Championship table, but Keane will be taking nothing for granted.

He said: “People will come here and they will know if they can keep it tight, our players might get a bit uptight.

“But we have got to go out and relax and try to enjoy the game. Football is just to be enjoyed.

“But I will tell you what – you enjoy it a lot more when you are winning games, and that is what we are trying to do.”