Despite being a fan of most things Irish, I've always struggled with Roy Keane. Playing for the rich, powerful and immensely popular Manchester United, and also being a dirty player, are two bad marks from me. But on the other hand I wish he had played for my team. And his sending home from the 2002 World Cup for his outburst against Ireland manager Mick McCarthy confirmed my opinions of this man.
Having visited his hometown Cork in 2007 I was bemused by the elevation that he had been given, with many (usually very bad) drawings of Saint Roy as religious icon on display and for sale.
And he's back in the national news this week, telling the Irish FA to stop whingeing about the defeat by France, and suggesting they look to the team's performance over the two games, where they flunked the opportunity to beat a poor France team. He, quite correctly, rejected the suggestion that the match should be replayed, pointing out that Ireland had had the benefit of some shaky refereeing at an earlier stage in the competition, and that they had plenty of chances this week to beat France but failed to take them.
But was his criticism of the FAI in Dublin really about football, or was it an old Munster/Leinster sore re-opening? And would Roy like the chance to replay his season so far? His Ipswich Town have one win in seventeen league games. And Keane reckoned Mick McCarthy was a ***** ***** ****** ****** manager?
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