Keane's folks save the day

And now he was about to tell his parents and his brothers to cancel the dog-sitter and send the sun tan lotion back.

"Whatever his family said to Roy changed his mind," revealed Irish boss McCarthy as the sun rose on another hot and humid day here in paradise this morning.

"There was nothing I could say to him on Tuesday night that would allow him to cancel his plans to retire. He said he had ongoing concerns about his knee but that his real reason for quitting was personal.

"He would not elaborate. I asked him if he had a problem with me, with the other lads, with the coaching staff. Anything to find out why he was doing this.

"He couldn't answer me. He turned his head away and he just said it was for personal reasons. I wasn't happy but I had to accept that.

"When we spoke in my room on Tuesday night he was out of the World Cup and out of international football for good. There was no going back on his decision as far as he was concerned and I began to make alternative arrangements for the finals. I had to as Irish manager.

"I rang Celtic's Colin Healy, who was at home in Cork, and told him to get ready to travel. I didn't tell him why, didn't tell him that Roy was out.

"Then this morning, Roy came to me and said he had changed his mind. He had spoken to his family and he wanted to carry on with our World Cup preparations.

"Of course, that was good news. You don't need me to tell you that Ireland are a better bet in the World Cup with Roy Keane in the team than we are without him.

"But it has been a strange few days to say the least. This trip to Saipan was supposed to be about rest and relaxation and I can tell you, there has very little relaxing about this development."

Keane's family clearly tackled their son's dilemma with the same ferocity he reserves for international opponents and media critics.

He would have been lynched back home, even in Cork, if he had walked out on Ireland's World Cup hopes without rhyme or reason this close to the June kick-off.

"There would have been no way back for Roy after this one," admitted a close friend within the Irish squad. He has done some silly and strange things in the past but this would have capped it all. Even the other players were telling him to cop himself on, late on Tuesday night. They are just glad he did, before he lived to regret this decision."

Keane was as steely-eyed as ever as he made his way to training in Saipan earlier today.

He declined to talk to the Irish media, shrugged his shoulders when asked if he would attend a press conference later that day when the rest of his team-mates go off to play golf. He will hold his counsel on this one for now. In the meantime, McCarthy must wonder how to negotiate this latest eggshell in his brittle relationship with the best midfielder Ireland has ever produced. They will, no doubt, skirt around the issue in the coming weeks but McCarthy's patience with Keane must be wearing thin.

And with good reason. This outburst is not out of character.

When McCarthy marked his international debut as manager back in February of 1996, Keane celebrated with a red card in a home defeat at the hands of Russia.

Then, when the Irish boss took his team to America for the 1996 US Cup, Keane opted to stay behind in Manchester and watch some county cricket at the other Old Trafford. He neglected to personally tell McCarthy, by the way, and was left out for the next six matches.

He did play a huge role in getting the Republic to the finals but he openly contradicted his manager's assessment of the 2-2 draw in Holland, slammed the team's travelling arrangements for the game in Cyprus and demanded that his United colleague John O'Shea be added to the World Cup squad in March.

Curiously, the former Nottingham Forest midfielder's off-field outbursts have come at a time when he appears to have controlled his behaviour during matches.

The wild lunge at Alf-Inge Haaland at Leeds in the 1997-98 season, his FA Cup semi-final dismissal against Arsenal in United's treble-winning year and a red card in the Charity Shield against Chelsea two years ago seem distant memories.

However, Keane almost went a step too far when he entered McCarthy's hotel room last night, no matter how much his U-turn undid the damage. He may reflect, now, that he's lucky still to be here.