Do onto others and all that…
Roy Keane’s comments on Wednesday following Ireland’s disappointing performance in the 2-1 defeat by Belarus on Tuesday evening were seen by many as the proverbial kick up the backside some of the players needed on the eve of Euro 2016.
James McClean, in particular, seems to have taken them in exactly that manner, saying the minimum the squad should give is 110%.
“I thought Roy’s comments were pretty much bang on,” McClean said. “He shared them in the dressing-room as well.”
The perfect response from James McClean https://t.co/T1uC7UWZ6U
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) June 3, 2016
But one player who seemed to displease Keane was Aiden McGeady, whose display against Belarus didn’t do much to advance his case of breaking into the starting XI for the opening game against Sweden.
“Would Aiden find himself lucky to be on the flight? I don’t know,” Keane said. “I think he’d need to play a little bit better than he did last night to force his way into the starting XI… If you’re asking about what I think about Aiden’s performance last night, I think he can do a lot better, but maybe that’s the story of Aiden’s career.”
Just another day in Roy Keane's lifelong struggle – https://t.co/KKyM5XK1Ae
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) June 1, 2016
Now Kevin Kilbane has hit out at Keane for singling out McGeady for criticism.
Kilbane also feels that with his remarks Keane gone beyond what is expected of an assistant manager. Speaking on the BBC Kilbane said:
“Roy Keane comes out and questions the ability of one of the players in the squad in Aiden McGeady. Having played alongside Roy, if any assistant manager that he played for questioned one of his team-mates or him, he would have been one of the first to go and knock on the manager’s door and assistant manager’s door and say what are you doing.
“I think Roy was bang out of order with what he said, particularly about Aiden. He is the assistant manager and you have got to know your role. Roy is supposed to be the buffer between the players and the manager and all this is going to do is alienate Roy from the players.
“Now I’m sure Roy’s not bothered, he doesn’t care. But you have to have some kind of harmony going into this tournament. Roy has a vital role to play as a buffer to the manager and the players, but he has just got to curb it sometimes. He can’t come out and say what he said about Aiden.”
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