Odd couple part ways

13 April 2012

Mick McCarthy was close to tears as he sat, head perched and decision made, at the top table in a Chinese restaurant in downtown Garapan.

He had gathered the media from bars, hotels and restaurants scattered around the capital village on this tiny Pacific island to make a late night announcement that would shock the world of football.

McCarthy's decision to send Roy Keane home was made in an instant, just an hour earlier, as the Manchester United captain launched a foul and abusive verbal assault on his international manager.

Words unprintable in even the sleaziest tabloid were hurled at the manager by his captain as 22 players sat, wide-eyed and restless. The reality of Keane's exit was harsh but the justification had been simmering for years.

Keane and McCarthy have never been comfortable bedfellows. Put simply, the Old Trafford skipper has moved beyond his station as far as Irish soccer is concerned. He expects, demands even, the best when it comes to training facilities, airline seats, even the quality of those who play alongside him.

McCarthy, a down-to-earth Yorkshireman in his own estimation, has never been one for frills to go with the thrills of international football. He likes the simple life, he demands honesty and commitment and loyalty from his players.

From the moment Keane ignored Niall Quinn's testimonial in Sunderland last week, an undercurrent has been prevalent in his relationship with Keane. The captain snarled when the team were ushered into a very public send-off at Dublin Airport.

He snarled for the duration of the 24-hour journey to Saipan, and refused to accept the garland of flowers handed in welcome when Ireland landed on this tiny Pacific island on Saturday afternoon. All week he has fought with anyone prepared to fight on an island that has seen its fair share of conflict in the past. The training pitch was wrong, the media hotel was too close to the team's, the training kit didn't arrive in time.

Then Keane exploded like a Pacific volcano when he quit international football and the World Cup on Tuesday night, after a training ground bust-up with those meekest of souls, Alan Kelly and Pat Bonner.

He was talked around by Sir Alex Ferguson and his family, made the World Cup squad deadline by five minutes and denied Celtic's Colin Healy the World Cup call-up that McCarthy had promised him in a late night phone call on Tuesday.

By Thursday, the decision was out of Keane's hands. A 5,000-word interview in the Irish Times, most of it critical of the FAI, the manager and even his fellow players, was the final straw. McCarthy fumed as he read the article in my presence at around 6pm last night, local time. He decided there and then to call a team meeting at seven, to clear the air and remove the feeling of tension and bewildermentcaused by Keane's comments. "I made the decision to bring the team to Saipan and I need to know why my captain has so many problems with it," McCarthy told me as the calm erupted before the storm.

"I brought the team here for some R & R before the tournament. The training ground is not perfect but it was not the kernel of the week here.

"I have 22 players here who are happy and want to stay longer than Friday when we are due to go to Izumo City in Japan. I need to know why one player is so unhappy."

Now McCarthy will never know. When asked to explain himself, Keane decided instead to dig his own grave. The captain who loves making the hard decision abdicated responsibility for the first time in his international life.

McCarthy knows there are no winners. He had to save face when Keane attacked. There was only ever going to be one outcome in that battle.

Now we await the repercussions. And Ireland will be the poorer, no matter what happens.

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