Irish legends demand Keane be sacked over alleged rant
Roy Keane faces calls for him to be sacked as assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland by arguably the country's two most respected former players, Johnny Giles and Liam Brady.
Keane, 47, is under fire over a recording which allegedly has him swearing at midfielder Harry Arter and striker Jonathan Walters in a training ground bust-up earlier this year.
The revelations came to light through a voicemail Irish defender Stephen Ward shared with friends and which was later leaked to social media. Walters apparently came close to blows with Keane, while Arter walked off with a volley of abuse ringing in his ears as Keane questioned whether he was injured.
Both Giles and Brady were unequivocal about Keane being out of order.
"Roy Keane is there to assist the manager. This type of thing shouldn't happen," Giles was quoted as saying in The Times.
"Players who are really injured need a lot of sympathy and help. As assistant manager, he should be helping Martin (O'Neill) and, in the Arter case, he hasn't helped him at all. Is he (Keane) equipped to be an assistant manager? Definitely not."
Former Arsenal legend Brady made no bones about how he felt on Eamon Dunphy's podcast "The Stand".
"Every time there is an Irish game there is a story about Keane, whether he is having a go at somebody or he is launching another book of his," said Brady.
"It's crazy, it's mind-boggling, really is taking the p*** out of the Irish team. O'Neill, or the powers that be, has to say enough of this. This has got to stop."
O'Neill defended Keane describing him as a brilliant assistant, driving the players to push themselves to the limit. He did admit, though, that Keane wanted to make peace with Arter. "Roy is up for that," he said. - AFP
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now