Sunderland deserve better than Roy Keane

Everybody seems to be missing the point. Commitment is paramount and backbone is crucial. Clearly Roy Keane possesses neither and that is why he is no longer manager of Sunderland AFC.

The club has bent over backwards to accommodate this man. They gave him a chance at management and continually supported his decisions no matter what the consequence. Yet when all we ask is for him to replicate the favour and give us a chance he leaves. Good riddance, Niall Quinn deserves better.

The common consensus is that since his arrival Keane has performed minor miracles on Wearside. That statement to some degree is true and I'm entirely grateful to him for what he has achieved at the club, he's given us some unbelievable highs. But all the good things he has done have now become tarnished, tainted by his ability to bite the hand that fed him and leave the club that put him onto a pedestal so high, he could shake hands with Ferguson in the clouds of management safety.

Since Drumaville, Quinn and Keane arrived at the club, Sunderland has been branded as one big force, all pulling towards the direction of success. Drumaville and Quinn have kept to their side of the agreement, yet ironically the biggest winner out of them all has walked, for the apparent best interests of Sunderland AFC.

Absolute bollocks. Forget the apparent 'crisis' we're in, the illusion that we are spiralling out of control has come from Keane and the players, not the fans or the board. I'm sorry but four points off 10th place and the middle of the Premier League does not spell crisis to me, it spells a very realistic chance of progression in a league that has become tighter than ever before.

Therefore during this 'crisis' all we needed was a little bit of stability and a touch of perspective. If anyone had watched the games we've lost they too would agree that with a bit of luck we'd have picked up a lot more points. However that hasn't been the case but so what? Losing a few games doesn't make you a bad team, nor does it make you a bad manager.

The biggest downfall in English football is everyone's ability to get far too carried away when things are going well and to get far too disheartened when things aren't going to plan.

So why has Keane left? I don't know and to be honest I don't care. Niall Quinn is what is most important at this club, if he leaves then we're in trouble. I'll repeat what I said in my article after the Bolton game because it basically sums up how I feel, and probably how a lot of Sunderland fans feel.

What I can 100 per cent guarantee is that now Keane has walked away he will forever regret it because the blind faith he received here will never be replicated at any other club. It's his loss, not ours.

I'm sorry but this is the perfect case of thank you and goodbye in my eyes.

James Henderson

Comments

[Alan Morley]

So sad. A guy who was given so much support to do his job effectively. No management interference just total back up from the Board and particularly the Chairman. A bigger loss to the club would be Niall Quinn. If he is at the helm we can move on without Keane. Goodbye Roy, you walked, will anyone trust you again??

[Fir Parker]

I agree with all of that. Sunderland needs to move on and thank its lucky stars that Keane finally walked because, despite the claims, he is both a quitter and an as yet unproven man in terms of taking the club to a higher level where it belongs.
I'm not a fan but I wish SFC and Niall Quinn every success.put Keane behind you and move onwards and upwards !!

[Ez Reeves]

Roy Keane is not a let down those players are.

[Geoff]

This is a brilliant summary of what it means to be a Mackem. Sunderland are a great club and no repeat no Manager will ever have a more faithful following. In hindsight we should have questioned why Keane never moved his family from Cheshire, and why he would not sign a contract extension. He clearly did not know when he was well off but, in his defense, he has left the next Guy with enough time to put things right.

[Derek]

The best comment I've heard on the situation so far. Ive always admired Keane and as an Irish Man I could understand a lot of the problems he had with the national team. But to walk on Sunderland?!! It just doesnt make sense. Ive seen all he games so far and as mentioned they are very unlucky not to be further up the league. It is the makings of quite a good side and desite what the media are saying Keane deserves a lot of praise for the "teams" he put together. However Quinn and the supporters deserve better. Not sure I can find the forgiveness this time Roy!

[Noel Page]

It would appear that the chairman only put up with the quirky Mr Keane for the benifit of Sunderland AFC. Now that's over the club will most definitely struggle, but true comittement will achieve success in the long term. Keano can now sit at home and text whoever he likes. Meanwhile Quinn and Sunderland will meet the challenge head on, haway the lads.

[Mike]

Cracking article mate. You've hit the nail on the head and your voice of reason should be more widespread. All of this hullaballoo about Keano kicking off should be forgotten. Now we will get a new manager in and he'll inherit a strong, if inflated, squad ready for trimming and pruning. It's an exciting time to be a Sunderland fan once again.

I'm just not looking forward to the obvious backlash we'll get when we get battered at Old Trafford on Sat which would've happened with or without Keane.

[Des Hubbard]

I couldn't agree with James Henderson more......Roy Keane is a sheep in wolf's clothing that flatters to deceive. He let the whole of Ireland down when he was a player and now he's done the same in Sunderland as a manager, when the going got tough the 'tough' ran away. Great, he was a marvelous player but that was then and this is now and as a man he has lost his mettle. What a self ingratiating thing to do, jump up and down when things are going well and run away when they're not!
The man only cares about himself and himself alone. For God's sake don't let any club give him the chance to do it again. I firmly believe he is a one-man team and should never again be allowed to mix with others on a cooperative level. Roy, GO SOLO! You'll be happy and so will everyone else!

[Paul]

Keane is a victim of his own sense of perfection. He is unable to handle failure. All his previous well documented blowup/fallouts/exits have followed what he termed failures. It's a fatal flaw in a managerial position and perhaps Keane has genuinely realised his shortcomings. If this is the case, he was right to go. This is hurting an individual with a powerful ego badly, this is a certainty. He will not be back, unless somone makes the mistake of believeing in hime again and restoring his own self-belief. Sunderland will survive with their ownwership management structure, their calibre squad and their massive fan support.

[Gordon Rodness]

I have to agree. First Saipan, now this. Whenever the pressure comes on, he seems quite good at bailing out from positions of leadership and leaving someone else to clear up behind him.

[Josh Dickson]

Roy Keane's always been one of my hero's in football; but I find it very hard to disagree with this article.

[David Trewick]

I could not agree more with James Henderson. My first reaction was not surprise (although there was some of that in there), but anger.

Do not get me wrong, I am absolutely grateful to Roy Keane for the change he has made to our football club, and thank him for what he has done since taking over in those dark days at the foot of the Championship, but I am angry at the way he has decided to call it a day when the going got a little tough.

And a little tough is all it was. At this point of the season, there has been no better year to be 2nd bottom of the Premier League. With the run of games coming up, and the holiday period providing an instant opportunity to get a good run going, we are only a few results from being in a top half position.

Roy Keane has had (barring a few dissenting, and in my opinion wrong, voices) the full support of the Sunderland support, and was given cult like status by the crowd. He has had total support from the board and Niall, and it is hard to know what else could have been provided to make him happy at the club.

Hopefully we will be able to find someone to take his place who can continue to move the club onwards and upwards, and it can't really be argued that we are now much better placed to attract a quality manager than we were when he joined, although I shudder when I hear Allardyce and Curbishley mentioned as targets.

Only 5 weeks ago, when we beat the scum, everything seemed great. I feel embarassed at the nonsense I was talking, and it feels a bit like karma has bitten me in the rear end for getting ahead of myself, but that's what results do to you (the beer didn't hurt either!).

I can't think of anything that Niall Quinn could do to lose the support of the faithful, and James is right, if he goes then I will worry, but my anger at Roy Keane's walkout will calm down in a few days. Sunderland AFC will get over his leaving. I just wonder whether Roy Keane will regret walking out on the one club that gave him everything he could have wished for, and a bit more.

Keep The Faith - FTM

[pritam singh]

touche