Being Irish and also a Liverpool fan, Roy Keane as a player always caused a dilemma for me when he played, despised him playing for his club but tried to forgive that when he played for his country.
But now it is impossible not to have the utmost respect for what the Boxer from Cork has achieved in his first season as a manager.
When Keane took over,Sunderland had just got relegated from the top league with the lowest points tally in the history of the Premiership, they followed this up with losing their first four games of the season and were bottom of the Championship table. This gives some idea of the type of squad Keane inherited.
When Keane took over i thought he might someday be a success because he had learned so much from being Alex Ferguson`s voice on the pitch for so many seasons, and he is not a stupid guy, his bust-up with the Mick McCarthy and the Irish squad at the World all came from the fact that Keane thought the Irish squad were ill-prepared and did not have enough discipline in training, and the results of that Irish campaign proved him right.
But what i think what has shocked most people is the way he turned a less than useless, no confidence squad of players into a team that has probably made one of the biggest u-turns in football history.
Some people might say that he had an advantage that he used his connections to sign players like Dwight Yorke or get Man Utd players on loan, and that was an advantage, but it is cancelled out by the fact that he took over the team four games into the campaign.
Keane has done a magnificent job, but like managers before him who have got their teams promoted to the Premiership his biggest test is ahead of him, getting promoted is one thing staying there is another thing. But who is going to bet against Keane keeping his Sunderland in the Premiership.
We have seen Keane pass one part of his managerial test, being able to motivate his players and get his tactics right in games, but he has a much bigger challenge now. He can motivate the players all he wants but now that he is in the Premiership he is going to have to improve his squad, and now he cant rely on old team mates or favours from Man Utd. He needs to deal in the transfer market and like all the teams without big money he needs to find gems in the transfer market and convincing them that Sunderland is the team to join, this is going to be a tough test but looking at the way he has adjusted to the managerial life i think he can also pull this off.
Always with Keane there will be the question will he return to Old Trafford as Alex Ferguson`s replacement, i do think he will someday manage Man Utd but i also think he knows its better to let someone else to be the follow-up act to Sir Alex. Keane is no fool and knows that Sir Alex is a hard act to follow and if the new manager does not win the title in the first year, he will be regarded as a failure, then enter Keane and he will be given time to sort out the mess by the Old Trafford faithful.
As a Liverpool supporter it is not easy to write a story about the accomplishments of one of our oldest and deadliest foes, but Keanes transformation from an animal of a player who would use any means to win a game into the manager who has turned into the calm figure of a man who was out walking his dog away from the glare of the media world when his team completed the miracle of getting promoted against all odds from when he took over deserves plaudits from all corners of the football world and cannot be ignored.
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