ROY KEANE THINKS there’s ‘plenty of players’ in the Irish squad who are better than he was, according to Ray Houghton.
The former Liverpool and Aston Villa midfielder was tasked with interviewing prospective new managers, along with FAI performance director, Ruud Dokter.
Houghton says he met with Keane for two hours when Martin O’Neill suggested he wanted the Corkman as his assistant.
“In that chat I had with him I found him very humble when he was talking about his abilities,” Houghton said on RTE’s Primetime programme tonight.
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“I actually put that question to him about handling players and as I was about to go into a monologue about what I think he should do differently he stopped me in my tracks and said you know what, the type of players I was I was a good runner; there’s plenty of players in the Irish set-up better than me. I think he’s learned from his mistakes and I think he’s going to be very good for the Irish set-up.”
Houghton said he had never had a long conversation with his former international team-mate about football before and was surprised by Keane’s depth of knowledge.
“As far as Roy’s concerned, that was purely down to Martin O’Neill. He wasn’t forced onto Martin at all. It was Martin’s decision to ask for him as his assistant and time will tell if it’s the right choice. I personally think it is.
“I spoke to Roy and had a good chat with him for over two hours and he impressed me hugely. I thought what he had to say was excellent, he surprised me and it takes a lot to surprise me in football, I can assure you. He said the right things and I really think he’s earned a great deal from his time at Ipswich and I think he’s going to do really well for the country.
O’Neill and Keane working for ITV tonight in San Sebastian on Tuesday night. Pic: INPHO/Donall Farmer
“I must admit I’ve never really sat down with Roy for a great length of time and spoke about football,” he continued. “I obviously knew he was a fantastic footballer who works in the TV industry like a lot of us. But I didn’t realise his depth of knowledge was quite what it was and his depth of knowledge of the Irish set-up.
“I spoke to him for two hours and it could have been another two hours at least such was his enthusiasm and his knowledge and from that point of view I was surprised at the detail that he went into. But I was pleasantly surprised and I think he and Martin will form a very good understanding. There’s no question, having spoken to both of them, they know their roles. Martin is the manager and Roy is there to assist him and we’ll see what develops over the coming months.”
Saipan
When asked if Keane’s standards were too high for the Championship-level players he led at Ipswich Town, Houghton said: ” All Roy wants is the best for his players. He wants them to go out in training, in matches and produce their best football.
“He’s not asking for anything more from them. He’s not asking for anything they’re not incapable of doing. It’s just having a bit of pride in your country, a bit of pride in playing for a team, going out there and playing to the best of your ability. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. That’s his standards that he wants and it’s up to the players to match those standards. Not just his, Martin O’Neill’s exactly the same.”
Best of luck Roy & Martin , a new chapter in Irish football.Two great Irish football people who will do our country proud . Lets all get behind them and support our boys in green , exciting times ahead .
Great decision by the FAI for a change .I like roy he always gave 100%. He had personality drive and Commitment and played like every match was critical. I really hope he brings us back to glory.
While the FAI (Mainly Denis and Dermot) deserve credit for getting O’ Neill on board, I still can’t understand why Ray Houghton is employed to interview people for the Ireland job. What experience does he have in this field???
He was a player for one of the biggest clubs in the world, and an international player who then went on to manage clubs, albeit unsuccessfully. His whole life is football, of course he has a “knowledge of football”…what a stupid FAI Pr exercise with Houghton.
Managed clubs unsuccessfully? He took over Sunderland when they were bottom of the Championship, and finished top. The following season he maintained Premiership status at a time when most promoted clubs went straight back down! He resigned from Sunderland, wasn’t sacked, because of issues with the owner. At Ipswich, he had mixed results, but maintained their status in a difficult league with limited resources. Facts people, facts!
Sounds like Houghton is getting a little bit FAI institutionalised if you ask me… Why was he surprised at Keanes knowledge of the game or do you have to work for FAI to know best.
Irish coaches managing the national team. Great move by the FAI.
Unlike the IRFU, all foreign coaches managing the national and provincial teams.
Nothing against foreign coaches, but it does ask the question why we are not bringing our own guys through the system???
Because Schmidt, Anscombe, Lam, Penney and O’Connor (to some extent) are the best men for the job. The best Irish coach is Conor O’Shea and he turned down the Irish job of you remember correctly. Our last two national coaches were O’Sullivan (who did nothing) and Kidney (who won the Grand Slam with the best players we’ve ever had and did an undefeated season in 2009 and nothing there afterwards. He stuck with a game plan involving field position which failed due to a mediocre line out and was unwilling to change this plan or bring in new players, much like Trap in soccer).
Also Schmidt won four trophies in three years at Leinster so why wouldn’t he get the big job? Would you prefer the Clontarf coach get the call…
Kind of agree with you Rodger. O Neill has a history of destroying youth systems at club level. Ask a real Glasgow what they think of him, he was not well liked. Keane was a surprise though and might make the difference. Youth level is where it’s at and the league of Ireland. Parents all over the country trying to get their kids signed to Premier League clubs is a joke. Their system is broke. I can’t think of any current player who came through the premier youth system. They have all been signed from league of Ireland teams. If your good enough you will be spotted. We should have went Dutch
The Feeble Association of Ireland (yes FAI) have struck again, a semi retired manager with a recent track record that is abysmal and a well paid underling who has done everything in his power to prove that football management is not his thing, Leaving Noel King for the euros and O’Brien putting his money into the grass roots level would have been the way to go, but as Eamonn said ‘That’s Show business Baby’.
I can’t really understand why they went for O’Neil. Look at his performances in his recent club jobs.. Ordinary to say the least. Keanu was a great Player like Brady in his day, but also buggered up his managerial efforts.. Not all great players make great coaches and vice versa.. Alex Ferguson was an average player, Laurie McMenamie was even more average, but Ferdie was one of the greatest and Laurie did great stuff with very average sides..
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Hopefully onwards and upwards from here. Best of luck to Oneill and Keano. COYBIG
For the first time in years I’m really excited about Irish football again!
He’s got a first class honours degree in putting the ball in the England net. Please don’t question his credentials in these matters.
Agreed..and did his post graduate in italian..man can never make a mistake in my eyes..
Best of luck Roy & Martin , a new chapter in Irish football.Two great Irish football people who will do our country proud . Lets all get behind them and support our boys in green , exciting times ahead .
Not only did he won the championship, he took the team who lost their 1st 6 matches to the title
Great decision by the FAI for a change .I like roy he always gave 100%. He had personality drive and Commitment and played like every match was critical. I really hope he brings us back to glory.
While the FAI (Mainly Denis and Dermot) deserve credit for getting O’ Neill on board, I still can’t understand why Ray Houghton is employed to interview people for the Ireland job. What experience does he have in this field???
Agreed.
He hired the last manager as well. Hes pretty good at it if you ask me.
Trap came for the easy money. They waved a wad of cash in his face and Trap bit their hand off. Ireland job was possibly his biggest payday.
Apart from the experience of picking the last manager, what experience does he need. There is no degree in international manager selector.
Did he do a FAS interviewing skills course?
Houghton has the job of “kingmaker” to deflect some of the blame away from Delaney if it all goes wrong.
He says (repeatedly) he spoke for two hours with Roy Keane. That is proof that Roy Keane deserves job. Nothing is mentioned about other choices.
Trap had apparently never met Ray Houghton before being hired, and barely knew he was. So there’s that….
We all mellow with age.
Did Dunphy say Keane was “very charming and funny, he has got that Cork thing”??
He was a player for one of the biggest clubs in the world, and an international player who then went on to manage clubs, albeit unsuccessfully. His whole life is football, of course he has a “knowledge of football”…what a stupid FAI Pr exercise with Houghton.
Managing a championship winning side is hardly unsuccessful
Managed clubs unsuccessfully? He took over Sunderland when they were bottom of the Championship, and finished top. The following season he maintained Premiership status at a time when most promoted clubs went straight back down! He resigned from Sunderland, wasn’t sacked, because of issues with the owner. At Ipswich, he had mixed results, but maintained their status in a difficult league with limited resources. Facts people, facts!
It could be argued that with Ipswich he took a team vying for promotion and brought them into a relegation dogfight, but I 100% agree on Sunderland.
Sounds like Houghton is getting a little bit FAI institutionalised if you ask me… Why was he surprised at Keanes knowledge of the game or do you have to work for FAI to know best.
I suppose it wouldn’t look good to have dropped Dixon hours after being appointed.
Irish coaches managing the national team. Great move by the FAI.
Unlike the IRFU, all foreign coaches managing the national and provincial teams.
Nothing against foreign coaches, but it does ask the question why we are not bringing our own guys through the system???
Because Schmidt, Anscombe, Lam, Penney and O’Connor (to some extent) are the best men for the job. The best Irish coach is Conor O’Shea and he turned down the Irish job of you remember correctly. Our last two national coaches were O’Sullivan (who did nothing) and Kidney (who won the Grand Slam with the best players we’ve ever had and did an undefeated season in 2009 and nothing there afterwards. He stuck with a game plan involving field position which failed due to a mediocre line out and was unwilling to change this plan or bring in new players, much like Trap in soccer).
Also Schmidt won four trophies in three years at Leinster so why wouldn’t he get the big job? Would you prefer the Clontarf coach get the call…
No body puts baby in a corner.
Kind of agree with you Rodger. O Neill has a history of destroying youth systems at club level. Ask a real Glasgow what they think of him, he was not well liked. Keane was a surprise though and might make the difference. Youth level is where it’s at and the league of Ireland. Parents all over the country trying to get their kids signed to Premier League clubs is a joke. Their system is broke. I can’t think of any current player who came through the premier youth system. They have all been signed from league of Ireland teams. If your good enough you will be spotted. We should have went Dutch
Beep beep beep! The sound of Houghton reversing. Some cheek, Roy made no mistakes to learn from!
It’s good to hear that.
The Feeble Association of Ireland (yes FAI) have struck again, a semi retired manager with a recent track record that is abysmal and a well paid underling who has done everything in his power to prove that football management is not his thing, Leaving Noel King for the euros and O’Brien putting his money into the grass roots level would have been the way to go, but as Eamonn said ‘That’s Show business Baby’.
Noel king. He doesn’t have the pedigree.
I’m not a fan of his butt I’ll let him have a go
I’m not a fan of his butt either
Whats his butt, got to do with it
I can’t really understand why they went for O’Neil. Look at his performances in his recent club jobs.. Ordinary to say the least. Keanu was a great Player like Brady in his day, but also buggered up his managerial efforts.. Not all great players make great coaches and vice versa.. Alex Ferguson was an average player, Laurie McMenamie was even more average, but Ferdie was one of the greatest and Laurie did great stuff with very average sides..
I love how everybody has their own CORRECT opinion on RK. Bad temper, bad manager, not a No.2, walked out/sent home in Saipan.
The man splits opinion more than any other.