Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane has said that he is at his happiest when he’s in a dressing room and that the opportunity to join Martin O’Neill with the Irish national team was the right call in his career.
Keane joined O’Neill’s coaching team in 2013 after previous stints as Sunderland and Ipswich Town manager and has said that he’s actually quite composed on the touchline.
“I suppose I had ups and downs with the FAI as a player and then when Martin gave me the call to be the assistant, it was great, it just felt right,” Keane said on Three’s #TheCallUp video.
“I know people have this image of me as a bit of a shouter but I’m not really, I’m quite actually, quite relaxed when the game is going on and I’m also at my happiest when I’m in a dressing room, whatever the score might be, and we’ve had some tough results recently, [but] if I think all the players have given 100% then I’m contented. I really am.”
Keane was involved in a heated argument with Ireland internationals Jon Walters and Harry Arter in August in which defender Stephen Ward revealed that Keane had a go at both players for not training while they were nursing injuries on the Ireland bench.
Arter pulled out of the squad before Ireland’s Nations League tie with Wales but later returned to the team after clearing the air with Keane.
Martin O’Neill, in conversation with Paul O’Hehir in the Irish Mirror, said in September that the situation had been defused and that they have moved on.
“I’m not denying there hasn’t been altercations. But the situation has definitely been defused and it’s just part of things.
“In one of the particular arguments, the two lads – Roy and the particular player – were actually in agreement about the same thing but it took them time to realise it.
“Roy has been a big supporter of Jon, for instance, as he is particularly close to one of the Burnley coaching staff and is always keeping Jon’s end up. But I can’t say there wasn’t an altercation, absolutely.”
