Shades of Clough

For the whole of his playing career, Roy Keane single-mindedly chased excellence; he is a man with lacking tolerance for anything else. He has no time for those he perceives to be coasting or failing to maximise their talents, as illustrated in his infamous rant against underperforming team-mates on MUTV. As a manager, he is much the same, but no longer has such a penchant for disturbing team harmony. Moreover, Keane has the tremendous benefit of having played under two of the greatest managers that ever lived, in Brian Clough and Alex Ferguson.

Somewhat belatedly, Keane appears to have mastered the art of self-control. The days of him spectacularly losing control, and falling victim of ill discipline, have ended with his seamless entrance into management. Though the old fire still remains, he has mellowed somewhat, and is immeasurably better at controlling himself under pressure.

Upon him becoming manager of Sunderland, many remarked that he was motivated solely by footballing one-upmanship – an urge to prove himself a better manager than Mick McCarthy. McCarthy was the victim of the most spectacular – and self-destructive – of Keane’s tirades; he was also a recent former manager of Sunderland, and had been at the helm as they fell ignominiously to relegation with a record Premiership low of 2005/06. The suspicion was that Keane’s desire was simply to prove himself McCarthy’s superior.

Regardless of his initial motivation, he has long since proved himself an inspired choice. Sunderland had lost their first four games in the Championship, and it is no exaggeration to suggest they were facing a serious footballing crisis. Yet Niall Quinn, to his great credit, recognised that Keane’s force of personality and intolerance of mediocrity made him the perfect man to life the club. Both men were stunningly vindicated as Sunderland won 17 of their last 20 games en route to finishing as champions.

Keane has imbued in his side a palpable self-belief, and a relish for playing against the best. He loathes negative thoughts, as illustrated by his banning of the word “survival”

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of his managerial career to date is the number of former team-mates who have opted to rejoin bullying, antagonistic Keane at Sunderland. What it tells us, above all, is he has always commanded respect – if not affection – from colleagues. They may have been targets of his wrath in the past – as new recruit Kieran Richardson was on MUTV – but they recognise his will to win and the sheer success he has enjoyed in football.

On the face of it, Sunderland lack the necessary quality to survive in the Premiership. The squad is an assortment of players critics believe to be playing above their level (Nyron Nosworthy, to name just one), those who have failed to impress in the top flight before (Michael Chopra) and, in Dwight Yorke, a solitary proven Premiership player – who peaked eight years ago. But it would be a surprise if Sunderland were relegated.

The reason? Keane has imbued in his side a palpable self-belief, and a relish for playing against the best. He loathes negative thoughts, as illustrated by his banning of the word “survival”.

There have been a remarkably high turnover of players during his reign because so many have lacked either the footballing skills or the mental resilience the manager is in search of. Those at the club now are no world-beaters, but that is besides the point. Keane’s brilliance has been, like Clough, to attain hitherto unimagined levels of performance from relatively unheralded players, as Nosworthy’s vast improvement testifies.

Of course, he is less than a year into his managerial career, but his tactical nous, and ability to build virtually an entire side from scratch, are deserving of the very highest praise. This season will be a huge test, certainly, but the dramatic victory over Tottenham encapsulated the spirit and togetherness Keane has been able to create at Sunderland.

As with Clough, Keane has sagaciously opted to build a team from the back, investing a British record £9million in Craig Gordon. It is to his great credit that he is clearly so willing to learn from giants of footballing management. Do not discount the prospect that, one day, future managers will admit to having learned from him.

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