Without doubt Roy Keane has an image, there can be few characters in the modern game that present such a divisive figure.
Punters and media outlets love his straight talking; pampered players and disgruntled former team-mates are less keen on Roy.
As a coach and manager Keane is viewed as a flop by many, his my way or the highway has rubbed up too many players the wrong way with directors less likely to go seeking his services.
At Sunderland the fabulous initial success wilted under internal pressures with players growing restless at the ways that had delivered results. At Ipswich he was unable to breathe life into the club while his brief spell as assistant to Paul Lambert at Aston Villa simply reinforced the opinions formed at his previous jobs.
International football seemed an unlikely escape for Keane, especially as an assistant, but alongside Martin O’Neill an unlikely partnership has been formed that has taken Ireland to Euro 2016 and gone some way to redefining Keane’s image- not that he’ll be too bothered.
In his early forties club management is likely to come calling again for Keane, his ambitions in that field are likely to stretch beyond the part time gig offered by the international scene.
Ireland’s place in France is largely down to the goals of Jon Walters, one of the players that never quite ’embraced’ Keane as manager of Ipswich.
Now older and wiser the Ireland striker has a different perspective of the boss that he came to blows with as their careers overlapped at Portman Road.
“When we met up with the Ireland team I asked if we could have a word and we had a laugh about it straight away,” Walters told the Irish Independent of the time he called a sickie which Keane suspected was a stunt to avoid being cup-tied before manufacturing a move to Stoke. “We all make mistakes. I am man enough to get on with it and he is the same.
“He’s a good manager, believe it or not. I liked the way he ran the dressing room. He could be over the top. But over the top to me? No. No one could get away with anything. If you put a foot out of line or did anything wrong, he would let you know. He would let you know as a manager and I still don’t think there are many players that will do that with people. People get away with all sorts.”
Mellowed is a description unlikely to be used in connection with the former Manchester United midfielder, the n ext group of players that he works with would do well to listen to the thoughts of Walters.
