A Nice Cup Of Tea And Plenty Of Cash To Spend Please.
A cup of tea may not be everyone's idea of the ideal way to celebrate keeping Sunderland in the Premier League but then again, Roy Keane isn't everyone is he?
You have to admire Keane sometimes. While others celebrated the fact the Black Cats would not be spinning straight back down to the Championship for a third successive time on Saturday night, the manager was more interested in what he was going to get from the board in terms of transfer fees.
Clearly, all those years of losing his temper on the football field masked an astute politician because Keane knows he is bargaining from a position of strength. Make his demands now, when recent success is still intoxicating for those controlling the purse strings and he is more likely to get everything he asked for. Clever.
While others reflect on the success that has already been achieved, Keane is always looking forward to what future success can still be achieved. It's an admirable quality for a manager, but does he actually ever enjoy anything that he achieves? I hope so, otherwise it would all be pretty meaningless in the end wouldn't it?
If you can't enjoy something, what is the point? For example, if you love chocolate but feel guilty while you eat it, you are ruining the enjoyment you had in eating it in the first place.
I suppose it's a bit like heroin, you are constantly chasing the high while always worrying about where the next hit is going to come from. Not that I'm calling Keano a junkie of course!
There are those among you - chiefly Newcastle fans - who will point to the fact Keane has already spent more than £40m to keep the club up in the first place. They have a a point, he has spent a lot of money on a mixed bag of players, but how much have Middlesbrough spent and they are still in trouble?
Yes, Keane has thrown lots of money around, but the point is he has offered value for money if only because Sunderland are still in the Premier League and have the opportunity - for the first time since Peter Reid was manager - to try and build on that.
As Keane himself commented after the 3-2 win over Boro, the potential of a club which can attract more than 40,000 fans when things aren't going particularly well is huge.
It is up to him to try and unlock that potential. He hasn't opened the door yet, but at least he appears to have the right set of keys in his hand.
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Luke Edwards - is Chief Sports Writer of The Journal and uses his blog to give a unique and entertaining insight into events at Newcastle United and Sunderland.
Ah, so you have offered an explanation into the point I raised on the last post about overweight people Luke.
They seek the high and buzz of a bar of chocolate here, a rack of lamb there, a snooker table full of Pop Tarts the other- that’s Ok then, Andy Reid might just have be exonerated of all food binges in his past, he’s a junkie, hell bent on abusing his body in search for the comfort of those precious tasty treats a bit too often for his professional career’s liking eh?
Still, The Roy Keane bubble hasn’t burst yet I see, he simply couldn’t have taken his hurly burly, lets smash the oppositions leg to win the game and brag about it attitude into management.
The Roy Keane attitude of badgering referee’s to the point that he and his co-horts, Stam, Beckham, Irwin and others, bullied referee’s constantly in 1999 to the point that referee’s were scared to award anything against Man Utd.
Wasn’t it Andy Durso that was the victim, the simple solution would have been at the time, to book the lot and if it persisted send them off, even if Man Utd had to make do with 7 men on the field- they certainly wouldn’t have done it again.
And another thing, after Saturdays crunch game with Chelsea, that divvy Carlos Queroiz came out and said- (You’ll like this)- ‘Something is wrong with this football club. . . .What is necessary to have a penalty for our side. . .I think it’s necessary to bring a gun and shoot somebody in the penalty area to make a penalty’
Well Carlos your right about one thing, something IS wrong with your football club, you have an arrogant two-faced manager, who only sees one side of the game- Manchester United’s and that’s fair enough, but in the interests of guns and penalty area’s- How many penalties have been awarded against Man Utd ESPECIALLY at Old Trafford down the years eh? And after all that’s why they have been successful really- they bend the rules to suit their ends.- Oh and it WAS a penalty.
Forget Dad’s Army or Porridge here’s the link, top quality comedy.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/match_of_the_day/7369025.stm
I’ve deviated from point haven’t I?- Roy Keane, I knew I was going somewhere with this- He seems to dislike referee’s now he’s a manager, but hasn’t taken the traits of Roy the player into Roy the manager, he doesn’t go overboard with his criticism.
He often talks sense- even though I had a huge chuckle at his Starting line up and tactics before and during the Newcastle Sunderland game last weekend- he got it wrong and not one journo had the bottle to say ‘Roy you got your selection and tactics wrong mate’
Why Not? Are they all scared of what Roy would do? Snap a cruciate perhaps? Hoy a prawn sandwich maybe?
He’s only young and he will learn, but he’s going to have to get a bit of pressure thrown on him at some stage, even Sunderland fans let him get away with it with minimal objection,- Chucking the derby game against Newcastle and leaving a nemesis in Chopra till the last eight minutes- Do me a favour- If that had been Mick Macarthy or Howard Wilkinson, that would have been the end of it.
And leaving Andy Reid on for the duration was gross mismanagement, maybe someone should run behind him with a pie on a fishing rod, like in cartoons?
So (Much like me) the Keane bandwagon rumbles on, he says he wants £50m? He may well get it, but he blew £45m last time, and what have the Sunderland fans got to show for it?- a grossly overpriced ‘keeper with potential and a poor mans Didier Drogba.
Hooray for Roy ‘You don’t know what your doing, unless it’s ending other players careers) Keane.
Paul.
Note From Luke
A superb Monday morning rant Paul. I shall be embarking on something similar shortly, although on a completely different subject.
Luke
Quite a rant from Mr. P., indeed. His weekend must have been stressful. Hope yours was less taxing.
If of any interest, mine was disappointing from a football perspective. I watched the Wear/Tees derby mish-mash and saw the same-old, same-old, with the petulant, one-footed Downing berating his team mates when they didn't give him the ball; then the equally petulant Berbatov sulking in all his glory at whatever his Spurs team mates did; and finally what resembled a Sunday-morning game with 8-year-olds masquerading as Wigan/Reading of the EPL. I fell asleep, probably in disgust, after seeing so many times the look of consternation on the face of Steve Bruce, that good old lad from the NE now wallowing in a rugby town. If anything could compel a simple man to reach for something strong it was last Saturday's football available to me. Instead, I went out and whacked the little white ball -- albeit a few more times than I should have.
And you think Roy Keane has troubles!
I am looking forward to your rant, Luke, as promised.
Seems its the day for rants - watched Derby vs Arsenal. Good game, but how could we give 4 points to this bunch of wassicks. Derby will go down as the worst team ever in the Prem, so what does that say about Big Sam (there`s a ten minute Rant on its own).
Question - would anyone take a Derby player into NUFC as a squad player - Answer :- Not on your life, so how come their one win was against us then !!
Note From Luke
It remains a mystery to me as well I'm afraid.
It always disappoints that Toon fans cannot get the chip off their shoulder. There is absolutely no need to keep saying Sunderland are not as good and letting people know that Toon fans think they need to constantly keep telling everybody we are a big but unsuccessful club. I'm not afraid of the dark ....
Wouldn’t it be great to be like Liverpool and Everton this season?
Note From Luke
It certainly would for me. Lots of good football, trips around Europe, the chance of silverware, happy days.