Soccer: Sorry, says good Keane man

For a man of his considerable reputation, for the last great rebel of English and Irish football, Roy Keane's career in management began with a word that no one expected to hear from him: sorry.

It was an admission to his new chairman Niall Quinn, the man he described as a "coward" and a "muppet" who could "rot in hell" over the Republic of Ireland's 2002 World Cup finals catastrophe, that he was ready to make peace.

And to Sir Alex Ferguson, who he finally pushed too far in November, that, after 12 years together, the fault for Keane's spectacular exit from Manchester United belonged to the player and not his manager.

Mick McCarthy, Keane's old nemesis, will have to wait for his apology. As Keane began life as manager of Sunderland, the greatest, most volatile player of his Premiership generation delivered a stark, uncompromising analysis of himself as a player and how he expects to adapt to his new career. Keane the player, of bulging veins in the temple and perpetual fury, was not, he said, the template for Keane the manager.

That much was clear when, as he was asked about his relationship with Quinn, Keane leant forward in his chair and said: "Listen, I have apologised to lots of people and I am sure I will have to a few more times. That was discussed when we [Keane and Quinn] first met.

"If you are going to beat about the bush and ask, 'Did I apologise?' of course I did. But it wasn't a case of apologising to get a job. Far from it. I don't think I was that desperate or ever will be.

"People are making a big issue of what's happened in the past but when I met up with Niall we sorted it out whether I took this job or not. People have this impression of me but it's important to move on."

On Ferguson, he simply said that, yes, he had apologised and he might even call his former manager to request loan players to strengthen his Sunderland squad.

His career at United was ended by his infamous MUTV interview deemed not fit for broadcasting by the club in which he lambasted his teammates.

Keane admitted that he may have "crossed the line" in that final chapter of his life at Old Trafford.

That was the apologies out of the way, but after a career like Keane's there was a great deal more to discuss. His Stadium of Light confessional was an absorbing explanation of the man he had been as a player, and the kind of manager he expected to be.

It took in the rage that, as a player, occasionally consumed him and the image that he had created for himself. There was even a word for McCarthy, too.

So how will the man who demanded nothing short of the best as a player reconcile himself to managing the team 23rd in the Championship?

"I wouldn't be sitting here if I thought that I couldn't do it," he said. "All I expected from teammates was 100 per cent.

"I never criticised players for having bad games but for slacking off. I told the players here that if they give 100 per cent to Sunderland there will not be a problem but if they take their eye off the ball there will be. It's very straightforward.

"You have to go for challenges in life. If I hadn't taken it I might have looked back and thought I might not have got the opportunity again.

"I've had offers like television [work] but it didn't interest me, becoming a manager did. They [Sunderland] got in touch when I was in Portugal. My attitude was to wait and then within 10 seconds of the phone call I thought, 'What am I waiting for?' Big club, beautiful stadium, big fan base - why not?"

That was an insight into Keane after his playing career, but it was his description of the player he had been that was most intriguing. For a man who remains so fearsome, Keane apologised a lot.

He had spoken publicly only once since leaving United, when he signed for Celtic, but so much of what contributed to his departure remains unsaid and there was an element of sadness in his description of the image he had created for himself.

"When I was playing I saw games like a war, I was playing for the biggest club in the game in Man United and I had to lead by example and that was to win at all costs," Keane said.

"I'm aware I can't be going off the handle as much as I did as a player but if I feel something's not right I will nail it. But hopefully a bit more subtly.

"I haven't helped myself over the years with the scene I had at United and Ireland. I was maybe football mad and a bit of a ... psycho is too strong a word. Football means a hell of a lot to me.

"It was like an acting job, I used to feel that when I drove up to Old Trafford I would turn into this kind of mean machine.

"When I was going to work or games it was like going to war. That was the only way I could describe it.

"I have no doubt over the years I crossed that white line. It's probably cost me a lot, the World Cup in 2002 and you could say my United career but, as much as that is a downside, it's a plus for me as well because I care about the game, who I'm playing for and who I'm playing with. I will be looking to get the balance right and hopefully that comes with experience when you get older and wiser. I've made mistakes."

He balked at discussing in detail the last days of his fallout with Ferguson although he did say that what got him "in trouble" at United was getting the "coach's or manager's head on me when really I shouldn't". Keane may have been in a conciliatory mood but the charity did not quite extend to McCarthy, whose Wolves team he will face at Molineux on November 25.

"I would have thought so," was Keane's response to the question of whether he would shake hands with the former Ireland manager with whom he fell out in 2002.

And apologise?

"We'll see. I will if I feel I have done something wrong but this stuff I weigh up on a daily basis."

It did not seem that Keane was about to change his mind anytime soon on McCarthy and his point that he would not accuse any of his players of "faking injury" was a reference to the accusation his former manager made that sparked their bitter dispute in 2002.

Instead he said that he would be more like Ferguson - "I always enjoyed the way he backed the players and defended them" - but would ultimately be his own man.

- INDEPENDENT