Roy Keane reveals he made bad a choice signing ‘hard work’ Tottenham star despite being told not to
ROY KEANE revealed he made a bad decision signing Pascal Chimbonda while he was the manager at Sunderland.
Despite being told not to make the transfer – Keane recruited the defender from Tottenham in 2008.
Keane’s managerial career at Sunderland started off as a success leading the Black Cats’ to promotion into the Premier League in his debut season in 2006-07.
He spent two and a half years at Sunderland before he was sacked and headed to Ipswich.
But before his exit from the Stadium of Light in the summer of 2008 Keane was desperate to bolster his squad in fear of regulation and signed Chimbonda.
Keane ignored the red flags not to sign the right-back who over his career struggled to stay in nearly all of the clubs he was at for more than two years.
He said on Gary Neville‘s Stick to Football podcast by SkyBet: “I brought Pascal Chimbonda in when people said to not touch him.
“But I didn’t listen to them because I thought we needed him, and he had Premier League quality and experience.
“He came in and was hard work, and I’m being really polite.”
After spending two terms at White Hart Lane where Chimbonda made 98 appearances before he was sent out the exit door.
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Keane recruited the one-cap France international because of his top-flight football experience in the hope of assisting his side out of the relegation zone in the 2007-08 season.
He continued: “I didn’t listen to people, I thought we needed him.
“I remember, I left Sunderland and got a phone call from someone on the coaching staff at Spurs, they were thinking of bringing in Chimbonda and he’d already been at Spurs.
“I said, ‘I wouldn’t be sure.’ Next day, they bought him. Why ring people and get feedback, sometimes you have to take a gamble, and pressure can make bad decisions.”
Chimbonda spent just one season at Sunderland appearing just 16 times across all competitions.
He then returned to Spurs the following term before his short stints at the likes of Blackburn, Queens Park Rangers, Doncaster and Carlisle.