Stan can still deliver
We may have lost 1-0, but Ireland’s performance against Germany showed genuine promise.
Tony Cascarino, 07 Sep 2006
England and Scotland had ridiculously easy games, which makes you wonder why the likes of Andorra and the Faroe Islands are there at all. Every nation deserves a fair chance, but they should have a pre-qualification competition to root out the no-hopers and ease the fixture congestion, which Arsene Wenger is absolutely right to complain about. UEFA have done nothing to address the fact that there about 20 more countries in the qualifiers than there were prior to the break-up of the Soviet Bloc. Fair play to Lithuania, though, who got a draw in Italy against the world champions.
On the club front, I thought Roy Keane handled his first Sunderland press conferance brilliantly. Forget all this maniac nonsense – Roy’s a shrewd, knowledgeable man who always puts lots of thought into what he does. His tolerance level is very low with people who don’t give 100%, and that’s the way it should be. As long as players give their best for Roy, regardless of talent, they’ll be in his good books.
I expect him to make an immediate impact with the players he’s brought in. Graham Kavanagh and Dave Connolly are proven winners at Championship level, while a properly motivated Dwight Yorke could net you 20 goals in a season. He knows what pressure’s all about from playing with Man United, and has the sort of bubbly personality that lifts a dressing-room. He also knows that any lethargy on his part will be rewarded with an almighty bollocking from Roy.
People are predicting war when Sunderland play Wolves, but I think Roy and Mick will be men about it, bury the hatchet, shake each other’s hands, get on with the game and let the best team win.
The fortnight’s other big news was David Moyes deciding to sue Wayne Roonney over remarks that were made in his autobiography. I find it ridiculous that something like that should end up in court.
We all know that Wayne’s not the smartest, but David should be big enough to take it for what it was, a throwaway comment to a journalist. This is what happens when players defer too much to their ghostwriters. When I did mine, I worked very closely with Paul Kimmage to ensure that it read properly. I could be doing Wayne a disservice, but I’d be very surprised if he more than skimmed what was in ‘his’ book. Him being dragged through the courts might make players more hands-on in the future with their autobiographies.
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