Former Ireland international Kevin Kilbane has endorsed Roy Keane’s candidacy as the next Ireland manager, believing that he would command ‘ultimate respect’ from the Irish players.
Despite reservations in some quarters about Keane’s managerial ability, Kilbane believes he did a magnificent job in getting Sunderland promoted to the Premier League from the Championship and that his experiences at Sunderland and Ipswich can only make him a better manager.
Speaking to journalists about the prospect of Keane managing Ireland at Dublin City Council’s Shared Histories – Smart Futures Summit, Kilbane said: “Why would you rule it out? I heard Sir Alex Ferguson saying that Roy wasn’t a success as a manager but how could you say he wasn’t a success when he took a team from the bottom of the Championship and got them promoted? Regardless of finances available that is an incredible achievement; I played in that league and I know how difficult it is to get out of it.
“Roy got them (Sunderland) up and kept them up, they finished 17th which probably didn’t meet Roy’s expectations but he’s been a wonderful success, he’s Irish and he wants the best for the players that he’s got, so why would people rule it out?”
It has been suggested that derogatory comments about Keane in Alex Ferguson’s autobiography, which was released amidst a certain amount of controversy this week, would harm his managerial prospects but Kilbane, who played with Keane on numerous occasions for Ireland, doesn’t believe that would be the case.
“I don’t know if it damaged him, I think Roy’s strong enough and everyone knows these stories anyway, it’s not as if he has disclosed anything we didn’t already know,” Kilbane said.
“I would hope that with the FAI going through this process of interviewing the various candidates for the job and if you’re saying you’re going to interview numerous people, I think Roy has to be interviewed.”
Responding to a question about how the players would respond to Keane’s appointment, Kilbane said that he would command ‘ultimate respect’ from the Irish players.
“I’ve heard Sir Alex say how intense Roy was and that he could be intimidating at times; he didn’t intimidate me I have to say but I don’t know, maybe I was daft!” Kilbane said.
Kilbane believes Keane should be strongly considered for the Ireland manager’s job
“One thing coming out from Sir Alex’s book is the issue of power yet he still needed Roy to be his powerbroker in the dressing room; he needed him more than anybody else and he was the key player at Man United in Sir Alex’s time there, he helped get the best out of Sir Alex’s teams.
“Roy would have learned from his time at Sunderland and Ipswich and you know that would only have made him a better manager; getting the sack will only make him better, I’m positive of that.”
Although he was positive about the potential appointment of Keane, Kilbane also spoke of his admiration for former boss Mick McCarthy and expressed sympathy for the constant speculation linking him with the Ireland job while he is still in charge of Ipswich.
“I think it must be so difficult for Mick trying to prepare a team every week, I was in at Ipswich with the BBC last week and you could hear the questions he was getting asked,” said Kilbane.
“If he is targeted you should be going out to get him because the length of the process puts people who are already in jobs in difficult positions.
“Mick is a prime example, whether he gets it (the Irish job) or he doesn’t he will get asked about it until a decision is made.
“It’s not just Mick, Chris Hughton was asked about it and he distanced himself straight away so if I was a manager I’d prefer not to be asked the questions at all because people are going to want to know and that makes it a very difficult position for Mick to be in.”
Kilbane has been out of the Irish set-up for the last couple of years, but would be familiar with a lot of players still involved and he expressed his displeasure at a number of tweets from Irish players criticising the Irish management of late.
“It’s totally wrong at every level, you know that people are reading that as well,” Kilbane said.
“The role of a player now goes far beyond what you do on the pitch and I think that’s been the case for the last 10 or 15 years. When James McClean was left out under Giovanni Trapattoni for the game against Kazakhstan (and tweeted about it), the lads were disappointed and told him to take it down.
“The lads know themselves, the likes of John O’Shea, Richard Dunne, Stephen Hunt would have been there at the time, Robbie himself, you can’t be doing that. It’s so easy to pick up your phone and do something silly so you can’t condemn them for it but sometimes they need to be told and probably in the strictest manner.”
Kevin Kilbane was speaking at Dublin City Council’s Shared Histories – Smart Futures Summit today on the area of how people and sports can drive collaboration between the cities of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The session celebrated sport as of the linchpins of commonality on our islands and looked at how sport can help to build smarter futures and improve links through promoting cooperation and understanding.
