O’Neill Takes Calculated Risk Adding Keane To The Ticket

In a move set to reinvigorate Irish passions, the announcement of the dream management duo of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane yesterday is exactly what the country needs. Since the removal of Giovanni Trapattoni as manager last month after failing to steer Ireland to World Cup 2014, rumours around the appointment of O’Neill as the preferred candidate have been growing gradually day over day. It comes as no surprise that the former Leicester, Celtic, Aston Villa and Sunderland manager has been handed the role but the addition of Roy Keane to the ticket at the last minute was a curve ball that few could have expected. Keane, who has been out of management since leaving Ipswich in January 2011, joins as assistant manager and has expressed his enthusiasm for the role and how he is looking forward to working alongside O’Neill. The duo’s first test will be against Latvia in a friendly match in just over 9 days’ time. Expect fireworks.

O’Neill’s managerial record speaks for itself and he is one of the smartest coaches in the game, bringing both experience and knowledge to the job. But whether he can control the temperamental Keane, not known for his composure or biting his tongue will be interesting to watch. The pair has only worked together before as TV pundits, often sharing the microphone on ITV sport and have the same ideology that stems from their time working at Nottingham Forest under Brian Clough.  Clough’s influence on the pair is clear to see but that’s where the similarity ends. Whilst Keane speaks his mind and is not afraid of the repercussions, often playing the hard man with ease, O’Neill prefers to be more reserved, softly spoken yet forceful with his views. The theory behind combining these two footballing greats is to get the best out of a talented Irish side with a sort of good cop, bad cop routine. In fact, it was O’Neill’s idea to approach Keane about the role in the first place, much to the reluctance of the Irish FA. Having dealt with Keane related issues in the past, the FA were hoping to avoid any similar types of problems in the future so adding Keane to the package to secure O’Neill was not exactly what they had planned. But without Keane, there would be no O’Neill so the FA agreed.

O’Neill is taking a risk in bringing Keane into the fold, one that can go either way. Keane’s arrival to the setup could help to reignite the passion in the players that started to dwindle towards the end of Trapattoni’s reign.  Winning only 4 out of 10 games in the World Cup qualifying group C was not good enough and resulted in Ireland finishing in fourth place behind Austria. Keane was not impressed by Ireland’s defeat at home against Austria as a TV pundit so now having the chance to work with the players to ensure it doesn’t happen again will make him more determined than ever. It will be up to O’Neill to manage that approach as Keane has a reputation for heavily criticising players performances and effort levels, something that the professionals of today take offence to. Keane’s mantra is that you play hard to win, and the effort you apply should be the same as he applied as a player, which has the tendency to create problems between him and the players under his control. If Keane does disrupt the dressing room, there may be little that O’Neill can do to rescue the situation and could result in him losing his job, especially if results on the pitch go south as well. Time will tell how the new look Irish management team perform together and more importantly which Roy Keane will show up to the party.

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