Roy Keane made £800 off Sunderland players but lost dressing room with training ground trick that immediately backfired
ROY KEANE reckons he can pinpoint the moment he lost the dressing room as Sunderland manager and pocketed £800 in the process.
The Manchester United legend revealed his training ground trick that immediately backfired during his time in charge of the Black Cats.
Keane occupied the dugout at the Stadium of Light for just over two years, helping Sunderland secure promotion to the Premier League in 2007, before stepping down in late 2008 after a string of bad results and a fallout with the ownership.
The 52-year-old has explained one moment where he lost the support of a handful of players during pre-season training.
Keane was speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, when he revealed how he “annoyed” the goalkeepers at the club by making a bet with the outfielders following a mistake by shot-stopper Craig Gordon.
He said: “We were at pre-season, playing down at the Algarve somewhere, and Craig’s in goal – there was a free-kick, about 40-yards out – and he gets beaten.
“He had a wall out – I said, ‘Why are you having a wall for? He’s miles away!’
“I’m trying to have a bit of banter, a bit of fun – it’s pre-season – I said, ‘I’ll go in goal tomorrow lads, if any of you want to take a free-kick against me, go 20-yards out, I’m going to have no wall’
“And I said, ‘If any of you score, I’ll give you £1,000’. A few missed and gave me £100.”
Keane revealed he made between £800 and £900 from the players who had a go at scoring against him the next day – keeping every effort out.
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Roy Keane's mad masseuses rant
Roy Keane was speaking on The Overlap, brought to you by Sky Bet, when he said: “What used to annoy me was the lads who used to do the massages, they’d get a bit cocky.
“They settle into the club then they think they’re running the show, have got the music on and the team wins something, and all the masseurs would be on the pitch – just relax lads.
“They all get a bit cocky, every one of them. We’re having a night out, free bar, and then they’d come with all their mates – ‘you’re brining your mates,’ relax.
“‘Are we getting medals,’ no you’re not getting a medal, relax. Then they’d be wearing their headphones as if they were players, coming off the bus and you’re thinking, just relax, oh my god.
“‘Anyone selling their car?’ – they’d try and buy the players cars on the cheap, are you’re like lads relax.
He added: “What happens to them [masseuses], they become mates with them [players], play golf with them and then they think they’re a coach, a manager, and best buddies with all the players and before you know it, they’re an agent, advising them.
“I couldn’t understand the lads who used to get massages right before the match.
“There was a lad, who when we used to go away with Ireland, he brought his own guy.
“I used to look at him before the match, a big game, and he’d having a proper massage like when you’re away with your wife on the weekend.
“I’m looking at him going, you cannot be ready to go to battle. By the time he got off the bench, he’d been getting a massage for 40-minutes, and he was all loose, baby oil everywhere.
“Stop doing the massages, useless. If you can’t get a massage before training, they think they can’t play properly. I’d get rid of all of them, honestly, all of them. Maybe keep one.
“Do you know what else they do? They hang around and get players boots. They end up having loads of boots and the lads’ trainers – scavengers in the dressing room.
“Get rid of all the masseurs, every one of them. You have managers going they’re really important. They are not important.”
However, it came at a cost as he explained his idea left a number of players riled up.
Keane added: “I remember the two or three goalkeepers that were together – obviously Craig – they thought I was disrespecting them.
“It was more the goalkeepers that were annoyed, the players that came thought this is a great laugh, ‘we could be getting £1,000 each tonight’.
“No one scored – I made some decent saves. Well, it was £1,000 for each shot! You can bet your life I was diving around like Peter Shilton!
“Strangely enough, they were very slow in paying me. This is where I kind of backfired a little bit.
“The next day we had another friendly, I was thinking ‘no one’s paid me yet’.
“It was half-time, the game was 0-0 – [not the way] I was hoping it was going, so I’m having a go at the players, I went ‘Listen lads, you need to do better – and I better get my f****** money tonight! You got to pay me that money tonight, I’m telling you’.
“Eight or nine lads came up to me after the game, I went ‘It’s about time!’”
After Keane left Sunderland he went on to hold coaching roles with Ipswich, Ireland, Aston Villa, and Nottingham Forest before turning to a more relaxed life as a pundit.
Now fans are more used to him giving out his no-nonsense opinions on their TV rather than waging £1,000 with Premier League footballers about scoring goals.
Craig Gordon on the other hand is still playing football despite hitting 41 year of age.
The 74-time Scotland international returned to his home country after leaving Sunderland and spent six years with Celtic before joining Hearts in 2020, where he still plies his trade.
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