Martyn McFadden: Roy Keane was always a risk - but it would’ve been an exciting one
Roy Keane in his role as a Sky Sports pundit
Roy Keane had made no secret of his desire to get back into football management.
He has made no secret of his desire to return to Sunderland as manager.
He had hinted on national television that a return was close, barely concealing his excitement.
So why did he turn Sunderland down?
Who could blame him? We are a lot less attractive proposition than we were when he was initially touted as favourite for the role after Lee Johnson’s sacking. Since then, it seems as if the club is in freefall, reaching new lows each day, having lost to Cheltenham this week. One reason for an appointment that appeared nailed on must be Keane’s interactions with representatives of the club. In 2008, he cited tensions with our American owner Ellis Short when he walked away from the club and you feel similar tensions would have been ramped up had he got the job this time around.
If Keane had walked into the boardroom, it would have been the same scenario as when a father returns to their bedroom only to find the children laughing, trying on his suits. And Keane would have lost it with those in place. Kristjaan Speakman is our Director of Football, who claims to be trying to instil a ‘philosophy’ at the club but we also have others lurking around from previous regimes - Stewart Donald and Charlie Methven still have part ownership of the club despite their unpopularity amongst the fans. The latter was in the stands with Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, our 24-year- old owner, when we were beaten by Cheltenham 2-1 on Tuesday. That result means we have not won in eight, losing to two of the poorest sides in the division in a week, under the interim management of Mike Dodds.
With Wimbledon approaching at the weekend - a team who haven’t won a game this year - appointing Keane would definitely have given us a huge lift. With recent results in mind, it’s hard to view the signing of Jermaine Defoe as anything other than a PR stunt to appease supporters. Although it might prove to be fruitful, it is still painting over the rising damp at the club. Now the black spores are quickly becoming visible again.
Keane was our manager in 2006 and came in when we were second bottom of the Championship.
He quickly made changes to the team’s composition and more importantly, to their mentality. We began to play with real desire and combined with a penchant for scoring late goals, we were a really exciting side that season. It was Keane who instilled a mix of pride, desire and fear into the players and with the sheer amount of last-minute winners; it seemed as if the players were anxious about returning to the dressing room to face the wrath of the Cork man without being victorious.
This season in League One, it is Wigan that are grinding out results and not us. There are so many games this season you can point to and say ‘we would have won that under Keane’ – particularly the last two. We needed a figure like Keane to transform us into a side that can battle against the bigger opposition in the division, work hard and win ugly. In this campaign, despite winning 5-0 on three occasions, we have also shipped some heavy defeats, most recently, against Bolton Wanderers who beat us 6-0. We have also lost 5-1, 4-0 and 3-0 away from home, results absolutely unacceptable for a club our size in the third tier of English football and also strange scorelines for a team that has been in the top three places all season. You feel like Keane would have raised the standards/fear around the team and also, the excitement amongst supporters.
We will soon begin to hemorrhage supporters. Of the extra 10,000 who turned up against Doncaster not many will return. Many people are already on the cusp of not returning next season but appointing Keane would’ve secured these people on the fence. Instead, now whoever is appointed has to work to earn the support of the fans. Keane was always a risk, but it would’ve been an exciting one. Any appointment is unpopular now.
Whoever comes in has a job on their hands. At the moment, The Stadium of Light has sick building syndrome and it is collectively making us all ill. The symptoms are obvious when you look at performances. It is understandable Keane does not want to suffer and we can’t blame him. Our club is a mess, but the general feeling is he would’ve been the one to change it.
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