Tom Humphries & Roy Keane Saipan Interview – Irish Times

Continued from Roy Keane Saipan Interview 2

This Interview First Appeared in the Irish Times on Thursday 23 May 2002

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : Do you get depressed?

Roy Keane: No. I wouldn’t say depressed. I can’t go back to my room and switch off. It plays on my mind. I accept a lot of things, especially with the Irish team. People say I’m always moaning but, if I moaned about everything you’d have about 40 tapes there. I like my life simple, I really do. I didn’t want the hassle I had yesterday, far from it. I didn’t want the night I had last night. Do you think I slept like a baby? I slept okay in the end last night but that happens when you drain yourself taking things on board. I’ve decided I’m here for myself and the people of Ireland and my family. Sod everybody else. This will be my last trip. I can’t go banging my head against a brick wall. I can’t. Sometimes you have to make a stance. If there was a flight yesterday I’d be home now and I wouldn’t have felt bad about it.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : When you went asleep, did you know you were staying?

Roy Keane: At that stage, I was still going back. I woke at about 6.30 and I rang my wife. She said Michael Kennedy had been on, he was under pressure from the press. I rang him and he said to ring the manager Ferguson. He’d been ringing me but couldn’t get through to the hotel because of the phones here. I spoke to the gaffer, he said his piece. I decided. I think there was all sorts going on in the background. A lot of people were not happy but life goes on. Nobody died.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : What did you say to Mick McCarthy after training?

Roy Keane: I told Mick I had enough. Basically that was it. We’ve had discussions already the other night about training facilities. You’ve got to prepare properly is my attitude.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : You hate the loveable Irish thing, don’t you?

Roy Keane: I suppose so. I accept it, I’m as Irish as anybody, but this has been going on for years. Training facilities, travel arrangements. It’s easy to pass the buck. Everyone here does it. You got to prepare properly though, it’s hard enough as it is. If I opened my mouth every time there’s something wrong, I’d need my own newspaper.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : Had you any idea coming away that this was the end of your international career?

Roy Keane: No. I was definitely going to the European Championships. Without a doubt. Maybe no friendly internationals but… It gets harder, no matter what you are doing. That’s all. I had no intentions of quitting. I do love the 90 minutes, it’s the rest of the crap. I’m sure the other players love their kids, but I can’t worry about the other players. I have to worry about me. I travel a lot, I have four kids. I miss them. Everyone is different. All I can do is look after me and my family. The European Championships would have been my swansong. It’s just come early.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : What’s that song you’ve been heard to sing, Positively 4th Street?

Roy Keane: My singing days are over. How does that one go again? You know. ‘You’ve got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend, you just want to be on the side that’s winning. Oh yeah, that one. In my defence, I was only joining in. Yeah, that would sum it up for me but there’s people away from football I’d be comfortable with. You have to be like that, have to be a bit wary. People talk. I read things about myself. Players even. Niall Quinn did something, with Paul Kimmage I think, a few months ago. Niall said, if Roy was buttering his toast it would have to be perfect. I’m thinking, what’s Niall talking about? People think they know you. Daft things like that. I don’t want to get on the PR machine though. I don’t want it. I do like my life simple. People will laugh at that but people who know me.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : Do you think you’ll manage or would you prefer to walk away from football?

Roy Keane: It could go either way. I’d be very capable of walking away but I see the challenge of being a manager, I’d love to pull the strings of a big club, players, listen to people. I look at our manager and I think about it. I know it’s stressful. People will say, if I’m going to walk away from this, what chance do I have of being a manager. I don’t know. I think I’d enjoy that challenge. At the end of the day, I enjoy managing myself regarding looking after myself, stretching, weights. I’d enjoy stretching that. Good players and good people with me, people I could trust. I’d like that.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : Why do you think Saipan was chosen as a venue for preparation?

Roy Keane: Haven’t a clue. Somebody came here once and it looked nice once. They thought they were making an effort because it’s really far away. The important things weren’t looked at. Travel, of course. A training pitch.

We had a lovely day yesterday, we went up to Suicide Cliff and learned the history. I enjoyed that, that’s the nice side of it, but I keep saying to everybody we’re here to prepare for the World Cup. I was going to go back up there today to that cliff! Add an Irishman to the list (laughs). It’s gone now, this business. We’ll just get on with it. Maybe it’s the vibe I send out, the monster that’s been built, some of it through my own doing but I don’t expect anybody here to tiptoe around me.

Alan Kelly took the **** out of the thing today. He came out at training with a balaclava on. I was glad. Alan would be a player I would talk to a lot. I don’t want to be burning my bridges there! I’d be down to zero!

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : How do you think you’ve come out of this whole thing?

Roy Keane: I come off the worst, no matter what! Eventually the penny has to drop but you need to put the penny in. I’m learning but I’m only human. These things happen for a reason. You have to learn from these things, the bad things. Without a doubt. I think the best has still to come. I’ve made mistakes. I’m better for the mistakes. Introduce me to somebody who hasn’t made mistakes and I’ll shake his hand. Things happen for a reason, I’m sure the man upstairs is guiding me along the way, putting a few obstacles in the way but I feel very happy with life. I do. I just don’t want us going home saying ‘if only we’d prepared better’.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : And what have you learned?

Roy Keane: Well it’s brought a decision that enough is enough. At this moment in time, I know this is my swansong. Not sure I’ll be missed.

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : It’ll be duller!

Roy Keane: It might be!

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : You could be a player-manager in the future?

Roy Keane: Yeah. Nobody would play for me but we’d have great facilities!

Tom Humphries – Irish Times : Well you’d be the media choice?

Roy Keane: Yeah? Right. That’s that then.

© The Irish Times Limited 2002
Soccer-Ireland.Com thanks the Irish Times for permission to reproduce this interview here.

Return to : Roy Keane Saipan Interview 1 & Saipan Roy Keane Interview 2

Back to Saipan Affair Table of Contents – Irish Football

© 2009-2018 Soccer-Ireland.com. All rights reserved
All rights reserved. No part of this website may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without prior written permission. No permission will be withheld to any reasonable requests.
Please contact Soccer-Ireland.com