Roy Keane quits Sunderland

Louise Taylor
The Guardian, Wednesday December 3 2008
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Eamonn Dunphy is rarely backward in coming forward with an opinion and the former Millwall footballer turned Irish broadcaster and writer has essayed a scathing deconstruction of Keane's failings.

Evidently no longer as friendly with his compatriot as when they collaborated on a celebrated and insightful autobiography of the former Manchester United midfielder in 2002, Dunphy had no inhibitions about querying Keane's mental state on Radio Five Live.

"He is rambling about all sorts of things and it's really ridiculous," said Dunphy reflecting on Sunderland's run of six defeats in seven games. "He is in serious danger of getting relegated but I think that Roy Keane is beginning to believe the Roy Keane mythology.

"He is pontificating on everything. He's lost the plot. I have the highest regard for him, he's a remarkable, intelligent, family man, but he's lost the plot big time.

"He hasn't had a settled side and I think he is in a fog at the moment. Everyone gets there at some point in your life, when things get too much for you. You don't know where the levers for control are and he's making some really silly decisions. He paid all that money for Anton Ferdinand and dropped him. Then there is [El Hadji] Diouf on the bench and out of favour."

Dunphy emphasised that this is far from a knee-jerk conclusion. "It has been apparent to me for the last 18 months that Roy Keane isn't going to be a serious manager," he stressed. "Like a lot of great players he doesn't appear cut out for management. It's becoming increasingly apparent. I just don't think he has the qualities."

Keane's ghostwriter feels Sunderland's manager is a particularly poor shopper.

"If you look at the remarkable, staggering number of players he has brought in and out, he has wasted a lot of money," said Dunphy.

"Maybe Roy needed to start, like [Brian] Clough, down in the lower divisions and learn the business of management and all its aspects. I think it takes two or three years to learn how to deal with directors, how to operate in the transfer market and how to set up scouting systems."

Dunphy also suspects that the recent arrival of the Irish American financier Ellis Short as Sunderland's new majority shareholder has altered the boardroom chemistry. "Roy Keane is not a quitter," he said. "But there is a new owner and the goalposts have moved. I think the whole project is doomed."

ignoring all the Arsenal fans antipathy for a minute