Why Roy Keane is playing with fire at Sunderland

I hope I’m wrong but it looks as if Roy Keane is conducting a masterclass in kamikaze management. El Hadji Diouf, Pascal Chimbonda and now Djibril Cisse: it’s hardly a recipe for dressing-room harmony at Sunderland given Keane’s personality, is it?

Combine three laid-back players not known for digging in when the going’s tough or for putting the team first, shall we say, with a manager who’s ferociously, obsessively committed. It’s a recipe for trouble and it contradicts the values Roy represented as a player. These look to me like some of the riskiest signings I’ve seen in a while. I’m amazed he’s signed these guys. It’s like throwing oil on a fire.

There’s no doubting their talent, but they’re the sort of players that can get you the sack – the kind who will look great when the team’s doing well but vanish in the heat of battle when a manager needs them most. If all three are big successes at Sunderland then Keane’s an even better manager than he’s looked in his first two seasons.

My guess is that Keane’s thinking short-term: get them in for a season or two and push them hard; don’t expect a long period of service. Cisse has joined on a year-long loan from Marseilles. If Keane freshens up the squad every year it will keep everyone on their toes. Insecurity breeds a climate of fear among the players that can be channelled into good performances. Players don’t know where they stand so can never feel settled or complacent, worrying they’ll be next out of the door.

As a player, Keane never gave anything away. He didn’t hand out praise. His thinking was harsh, black and white but logical. Why should he pat team-mates on the back and say “well played”? As a professional footballer, your job is to play well. Why should you get praise just for doing your job? I’m sure he’s the same as a manager.

At the end of last season he let rip at his squad for not trying hard enough once they’d secured survival. Success doesn’t really exist for someone like Roy, because whatever you’ve done, you should have done better. Finish mid-table? You should have been in the top half. Come sixth? Should have been fifth. Putting such pressure and expectation on yourself is almost masochistic, really, but it’s natural to Keane because he’s so driven.

Rebuilding the team each summer, if that’s Keane’s plan, is an expensive job; not that the cost will bother him. It also leaves Sunderland with a very large squad, which presents challenges in itself. But he won’t feel remorseful if players have to stew in the reserves.

The squad may even be about to expand still more: Sunderland have been linked with a move for David Healy, the Fulham striker. And if that comes off, it makes me wonder if Keane will try and buy yet another player, as Healy’s best when he plays off a big and powerful target man, someone like Carlton Cole.

Whatever it takes to win. But with the trio above, and an oversized squad of worried players, Keane’s got a job on his hands. At least he’s proved himself up to the challenge in his first two seasons in management. You wouldn’t bet against him delivering once more.

Comments

[9lives]

It didn't take long for Chimbonda to revert to type at Sunderland. This is exactly what Cascarino was talking about - last season it was Anthony Stokes and Graham Kavanagh who felt Keane's wrath.

"ROY KEANE axed Pascal Chimbonda just hours before Sunderland’s win at Spurs — because he turned up late for a pre-match stroll.

The Black Cats boss wanted everyone to enjoy a walk around their hotel but was left fuming when Chimbonda did not show at the agreed time.

Keano blasted the full-back, 29, and told him to forget about playing at White Hart Lane."

[Martin]

Am I to assume Billy is a bitter and twisted Mag, jealous that eventually it's the red and white half of the north-east signing big-name players rather than the great unwashed? If so, no wonder he's heard of delusion. It's a condition suffered by every bandwagon Newcastle supporter since the early 90s. Yes, our primary objective last year was safety, as it was for half the league, including Newcastle, and as it will be this year. Ever heard of running before walking?

Rather than "kamikaze management", Keane has signed players based on their footballing ability and shown great self-confidence in the belief he will get the best out of these players. A nucleus of Gordon, Chimbonda, Malbranque, Jones and Cisse, hopefully with the addition of Ferdinand this week, is the making of a very strong Premeirship squad. He may have made some blunders in the transfer market, but who hasn't? After all, the great Sir Alex paid us 2.5m for David Bellion....

The nature of footballers these days makes them easy people to fall out with. The fact Keane has balls the size of a Geordie's beer gut means in the case of any bust-ups, everyone knows who is boss and he will consequently earn the respect of the dressing room for standing up to any trouble makers. In the mean time, let the football do the talking as it did against Spurs.

Ha'way the lads.

[Michael]

I was quite pleased with Sunderland's performance today against Spurs. Nothing against the man, but may they make Mr. Cascarino eat his words. In the post game interview, Keane stated his pursuit of TWO more players. I am waiting for the next cautionary blog post.....

[will]

michael
only 1 of those players is african, the other two are french.

the point he is making is that those players arent exactly known for fitting in to a structured environment. chimbonda is a brilliant right back, but there must be a reason why ramos doesnt want him, because it cant be because he isnt a good enough footballer. Cisse although he has talent even had trouble fitting in at marseille and can you really imagine diouf and keane getting on? it basically looks like desperation from keane saying i cant sign the class of player i want, so i will have to take a risk on these and hope i can keep the discipline with them.

how exactly you can draw that the article is racist is beyond me. if he said that healey might be prolific at internation level but isnt proven at premiership level, would you have decided that that meant he was anti irish?

[Stephen]

The fact that Cascarino recommended Carlton Cole as a good strike partner due to his size completely ignores why Keano brought Cisse in- because Cisse is a tall target man and much more proven than Cole. Not to mention when Jones returns.

I wouldn't call Diouf, Chimbonda or Cisse "laid back", they're the polar opposite.
Come on Mr Cascarino, tell us what you have against Sunderland?

[Mike]

As a life long Bolton fan, Dioufy was a massive help keeping Bolton up last season and has been a fans favourite at the club throughout his time here and so will be missed at the club. Therefore I think you may be off the mark a bit with this piece.

[Billy]

What? Somebody daring to have a go at Keano? You can't do that Cas. He's signed a contract which absolves him from any criticism.

Highest net spenders in 2007 / 8 but just scraping premier league safety? Doesn't matter. Safety was the primary objective.

Thousands of empty seats at the SOL despite so many signings? Doesn't matter. Its the credit crunch.

Signing players with questionable backgrounds? Obviously racism.

The delusion and arrogance of everything connected with SAFC is breathtaking.

[Hannes]

Dave has right: Chimbo and Diouf helped a lot Wigaand Bolton - as well as Teemu Tainio is called Terrier while playing for Finland for example against Portugal - making Ronaldo nearly invisible... Also the combination of Chimbo, Tainio & Malbranque as a team - let's see what will happen to Spurs!

[Morny]

Hmm, what do you Mackems make of this?

His thinking was harsh, black and white but logical.

[floridagunner]

Michael;

You are completely off the mark accusing Cascarino of racism. Maybe you need to think before you write.

The writer has made credible and legitimate arguments against the players in question. All these players were pretty much considered flops at their previous clubs and that is a fact that is independent of their skin colour.

[aduf]

Cascarino needs to remember where safc were when keane arrived, but is spot on when he says Diouff, Chimbonda and Cisse are "short term" - and exactly what we need. What's changed at safc is the vision, in that we now have one! Look at Bolton 2 years ago, why cant safc replicate that? No reason. If anything Keane is moving too fast for his own good, but hey, I'm not the one to tell him...

[Robert Simm]

I agree with Tonys article and its probably the first i have seen that criticizes Keane who appears to have carried his untouchable status into management. He has bought recklessly and continues to do so, he has a massive squad with little re sale value and its almost a car crash waiting to happen. Tony has been brave to comment on this whilst others have bottled it, to accuse him of racism is quite ridiculous but commonplace these days, easy to allege, hurtful but difficult to argue against once branded.

[russell johns]

Michael;
i think you're missing the point totally...and your comments are actually quite narrow minded: just because the three mentioned players are black means zero!

Chimbonda is known for his problems, and the club he arrived from to Wigan will tell you that.

As for Cisse being liverpool's most clinical striker in his last season - rubbish! cisse has a lot of potential but really couldn't hit a barn door with a frying pan. i do agree that he was a bit unlucky, but he is just not that good.

Diouf is a vile man - spitting in people's face is completely deplorable, no matter how good you are.

i actually quite enjoy cascarino's writing; more commensensical than most and usually correct. Of course these things are objective, but i think he's hit the mark. What will Keane do with three players with worrying history?

what worries me most is your screaming of racism just because the players are black. i wonder what your background is to cause you such offense? Anyway, you also seriously have a lack of football knowledge.

[Peter]

I do not understand on what basis Mr Cascarino makes his comments it seems to me that all of Roy Keanes signings have a track record of showing their worth when the chips are down. I am a lifelong Sunderland supporter so I confess bias , but at last we are starting to sign players to match the size of the support on Wearside and I look forward to a healthy league position at the end of this year.

[Andrew]

...it makes me wonder if Keane will try and buy yet another player, as Healy’s best when he plays off a big and powerful target man, someone like Carlton Cole.

Kenwynne Jones, perhaps?

[andrew harris]

Cisse doesnt dig in? this player came back from 2 horrific injuries, played a big part in liverpools CL win, and their FA cup win in times of adversity and played 50 games in his last year at LFC on the wing, yet didn't complain, and according to Steven Gerrard in his book..is a great lad around the place?

[Lee]

'And if that comes off, it makes me wonder if Keane will try and buy yet another player, as Healy’s best when he plays off a big and powerful target man, someone like Carlton Cole.'

While I don't necessarily disagree with anything else in the article - ultimately when evaluating Keane's signings, it boils down to how much belief you have in his ability to instill his drive into those around him, which was pretty much my understanding of what you were saying - I'm not sure about this part.
I know Kenwyne Jones is currently injured, and that he's a different type of player to Cole, Ashton or Heskey - he arguably plays with more finesse than those three, although that's questionable for the latter two - but surely he's good enough in the air and physically strong enough to play the big man for Healy?

[Dave]

"the sort of players that can get you the sack – the kind who will look great when the team’s doing well but vanish in the heat of battle when a manager needs them most." Diouf played a vital role in helping keep Bolton up last year, as did Chimbonda at Wigan. Not players high on the integrity stakes but great signings for Sunderland nonetheless.