The Roy Keane who ridiculed John Delaney and the notion of replaying the Republic of Ireland’s World Cup play-off against France in 2009 did not show at Gannon Park on Friday morning.
Keane was manager of Ipswich Town back then and free to say whatever he liked about the Football Association of Ireland. He still has that freedom, of course, and there were a few nervous glances among the FAI press officers as he began a scheduled pitch-side press conference at the team’s training base. But Keane was in full-on Republic of Ireland assistant manager mode. He refused to bite on Delaney’s remarkable admission – remarkable also for the light-hearted sense in which he said it – that the FAI accepted €5m from Fifa to drop a legal challenge over their failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup after Thierry Henry handled in the buildup to France’s equaliser in Paris.
“Do you know what? Not today,” he said in reply to the first of several questions on the subject. “I’m not in the mood to talk about all that stuff. If you want to ask me about the games coming up and the players we have, no problem, but I’m not getting into the Fifa stuff. I’m here to focus on the games coming up. I’m not going there.”
The only line that Keane offered on Delaney in his broadcast press conference (he held a separate briefing for the written media) was said in jest. Asked whether the chief executive of the FAI, a man Keane has had countless run-ins with in the past, had become a distraction, he laughed and said: “Isn’t he always?”
Later, Keane was asked for his thoughts on Jack Warner, the former Fifa vice-president who has been charged by the US authorities over corruption within the organisation. Keane and Warner were involved in a slanging match in 2008 over the then Sunderland manager’s refusal to allow Dwight Yorke to play against the United States for Trinidad and Tobago. Warner accused Keane of “a callous disregard for small countries”. Keane accused Warner of being “a clown” and of having “small-man syndrome”. Presciently, he also said: “If he’s vice-president of Fifa, God help everybody.”
Alas, not even the open goal provided by Warner’s exposure shook Keane out of the boring, diplomatic routine. “I’ve had issues with everybody,” said Ireland’s assistant manager, again with a smile. He was clearly enjoying swerving the issue. But, as Delaney must know only too well, Keane won’t swerve it forever.
