Roy Keane wants to become a manager again. He wants to be the best he can be and he wants to be the boss. These are all things you would expect from one of the most intimidating and talented midfield generals of his generation, but like all of us, he also wants to be happy.
Having found that happiness with the Republic of Ireland, he should think twice about wanting to leave. Rather than worry about becoming a manager again, four years after his career in the dugout appeared to be over following a dreadful experience at Ipswich Town, Keane should continue to work as an assistant to Martin O’Neill because it is bringing out the best in him.
His reputation has been rebuilt already, but that is not the most important thing. Keane will become a manager again one day, but he does not need to rush back. If you are enjoying something, why give it up? If you are learning new skills, a new way of doing things that will benefit you, why end the lessons prematurely?
It is difficult to remember Keane laughing and smiling as much as he has done with O’Neill. Not since he was a young midfielder at Nottingham Forest, playing under Brian Clough, has Keane openly admitted he is learning things from somebody he admires.
The odd couple, as they were initially dubbed in Ireland, have, after two years together, turned into a perfect marriage.
O’Neill has described the decision to name Keane his assistant as the best he has made for some time. Maybe it is because both of them are students of Clough, that they click on a football level, but there is a personal relationship there too, warmth and mutual respect, which suggests they should continue for a while.
O’Neill wants him to stay, and even if you take away the old adage that it is easier to get a job in football when you already have one, on a personal level, his reintegration into Irish football has been good for Keane. He seems content with life, comfortable in his surroundings and close to those around him.
The 45-year-old still has the same intensity, the same aura. Keane can destroy an autograph hunter looking for signed merchandise to sell on ebay with a look. He can chop down a journalist asking a question he deems stupid or disagreeable, just as well as he used to take out an opposition midfielder with a well-timed – or not as the case may be – tackle. In that respect, Keane remains the same.
But the Keane pictured laughing and joking on the pitch after Ireland’s 2-0 win over Bosnia and Herzegovina on Monday night was unrecognisable from the one who sits in front of the television screens as a pundit, with a permanent frown on his face and a default setting of withering.
The Keane hugging and embracing O’Neill on the touchline had the look of a man who has found a job worth keeping.
If you talk to people involved in the Ireland squad, Keane has been superb. On the training pitch, at the team hotel, in the dressing room, he has a knack for finding the right words at the right moment. There has been far less snarling and a lot more encouraging.
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He still demands respect. When he speaks, players listen, but they do not do it out of fear. They listen because they want to hear what he has to say. Within that difference, perhaps, lies the key to successful management.
Insiders have also indicated Keane, who used to watch the majority of training sessions from the touchline when he was a club manager, is also a far better coach than he has been given credit for.
The supposedly difficult man from Cork has, to his own “surprise” enjoyed being more hands on in training sessions. He is “enjoying the role” and working with O’Neill – who manages, according to Keane, with a “calm authority” has been “everything he hoped it would be.”
Keane revels in his public persona. The intense stare, the aloofness, the carefully manicured disdain, but it is an act and the first cracks in his performance have started to appear. He should not worry about that in the slightest, it is not meant as a criticism, because the new role suits him.
In the first instalment of his autobiography, Keane talks about driving to training at Manchester United and getting into character. People knew and respected Keane the captain, Keane the inspiration, Keane the powerhouse midfielder who could sieze a game and bend it to his will.
They admired Keane for his intensity and the unflinching demands he placed on his teammates. He became that person because that is what he needed to be successful; to excel.
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Before they fell out, each bruising the other’s egos with their tit-for-tat public attacks, Sir Alex Ferguson would have acknowledged that Keane was his best captain, his trusted lieutenant and an integral part of his Old Trafford dynasty. Captains, though, are different to managers. It is about managing, not leading. A subtle but crucial difference.
Keane is not a comic book character, he is a human being who can adapt and that is what we are starting to see.
The outer shell is hard and almost impenetrable, but there is a softer core. Keane is learning that making players want to play for you is the key to O’Neill’s success as a manager and it will, eventually, make him a better one too.
But for the time being, he should enjoy the fact he has found something he is good at and enjoys doing, because there are thousands of former players who never do.
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