Roy Keane funked the European move
It was with incredulity that I watched the unveiling of Roy Keane to the Celtic faithful from a hotel room in Auckland. Probably the greatest player in the English Premiership in the past ten years, it seemed impossible to conceive that Keane would go to a mediocre team by United's standards.
Real Madrid publicly expressed interest in acquiring his talent and must have seen him as a counterbalance to the terribly shallow 'galactico' cloud that hangs over the Bernabeu. His addition to the squad would, in my humble opinion, have created the greatest collection of players at any one club at any one time in the history of football. The prospect of Keane barking at Raul, Guti and Ronaldo seemed too good to be true.
Celtic are a great Scottish side. Along with Rangers they have dominated the SPL for decades. However, Celtic are not a great European side. They do have one European Cup to their name, but at the moment they are far removed from the prospect of repeating that glorious triumph of 1967. There is no doubt that Roy Keane's presence in the team will help Celtic, but will Celtic help Roy's career?
Let's not forget Keane's indefatigable commitment to playing to full potential. He expects and invariably gets. At times, he got responses from his teammates at United that even Ferguson couldn't inspire. He showed up the failings of Mick McCarthy and managed to divide a nation. Any other player would have be castigated for telling his national manager: "I cant believe you've called a meeting about me! You were a shite player and you're a worse fucking manager". Instead, Keane was lauded for trying to keep mediocrity at bay.
So how would Roy Keane have fared in Madrid? To my mind, he would have flourished. The game is slower and the players are not used to snapping at the heels. Keane's legs are not what they used to be, but this was a suitable footballing environment for such retiring legs.
Would Real have signed Keane for 20 grand a week and no transfer fee? Of course they would. The mentality at the club is to promise a big-name signing every so often to appease the fans. Roy Keane fitted the bill but chose not to go. Keane funked the big move and the opportunity to play at the top level for the rest of his career. Was he afraid of being a smaller fish in a bigger pond?
Celebrity is a staple for the galacticos and despite his attempts to portray himself as a media-spotlight hater, he has done the exact opposite throughout his entire career. The media-attention cake slices would have been very small indeed at Madrid who have on their books some of the greatest players in the world.
Instead, Keane looks set to enjoy playing with an inferior team, a position that is at odds with his previous demands for playing football at the highest level. The likes of Cally Thistle are not the opponents that Keane ought to be facing come January.
Published by Colm.
Real Madrid publicly expressed interest in acquiring his talent and must have seen him as a counterbalance to the terribly shallow 'galactico' cloud that hangs over the Bernabeu. His addition to the squad would, in my humble opinion, have created the greatest collection of players at any one club at any one time in the history of football. The prospect of Keane barking at Raul, Guti and Ronaldo seemed too good to be true.
Celtic are a great Scottish side. Along with Rangers they have dominated the SPL for decades. However, Celtic are not a great European side. They do have one European Cup to their name, but at the moment they are far removed from the prospect of repeating that glorious triumph of 1967. There is no doubt that Roy Keane's presence in the team will help Celtic, but will Celtic help Roy's career?
Let's not forget Keane's indefatigable commitment to playing to full potential. He expects and invariably gets. At times, he got responses from his teammates at United that even Ferguson couldn't inspire. He showed up the failings of Mick McCarthy and managed to divide a nation. Any other player would have be castigated for telling his national manager: "I cant believe you've called a meeting about me! You were a shite player and you're a worse fucking manager". Instead, Keane was lauded for trying to keep mediocrity at bay.
So how would Roy Keane have fared in Madrid? To my mind, he would have flourished. The game is slower and the players are not used to snapping at the heels. Keane's legs are not what they used to be, but this was a suitable footballing environment for such retiring legs.
Would Real have signed Keane for 20 grand a week and no transfer fee? Of course they would. The mentality at the club is to promise a big-name signing every so often to appease the fans. Roy Keane fitted the bill but chose not to go. Keane funked the big move and the opportunity to play at the top level for the rest of his career. Was he afraid of being a smaller fish in a bigger pond?
Celebrity is a staple for the galacticos and despite his attempts to portray himself as a media-spotlight hater, he has done the exact opposite throughout his entire career. The media-attention cake slices would have been very small indeed at Madrid who have on their books some of the greatest players in the world.
Instead, Keane looks set to enjoy playing with an inferior team, a position that is at odds with his previous demands for playing football at the highest level. The likes of Cally Thistle are not the opponents that Keane ought to be facing come January.
Published by Colm.
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