|
Roy’s dilemma  By
David Thorpe
With promotion secured and the euphoria of the Sunderland fans washing
over him Roy Keane uncharacteristically dropped his guard this week.
He said that he expected the Sunderland team he manages not to be fighting
relegation but rather to “make their mark on the Premiership”.
But with the new season set to kick off in just over a month some opinions
are having to be revised at the Stadium of Light as the Black Cats have
missed out on a host of their top targets.
A move for Preston and England striker David Nu-gent collapsed because
Keane grew frustrated at how long the player was taking to make up his
mind. Nugent has since joined Harry Redknapp’s Portsmouth.
Another of their top targets Republic of Ireland international Paul
McShane failed a medical at the Stadium of Light leaving that move up
in the air. If Keane’s list of non-takers wasn’t bad enough
Northern Ireland international full-back Chris Baird elected to join Fulham
ahead of Sunderland.
Despite being linked with, in Roy Keane’s phrase “about
65 players” only threedefenders Russell Anderson and Greg Halford
and former Newcastle United striker Michael Chopra have arrived at the
Stadium of Light with four weeks to go before the transfer window closes.
One of the positions in which Keane most needs to strengthen is that
of goalkeeper.
However Keane has had bids of £5million and £8million rejected
by Hearts for the Scottish international goalkeeper Craig Gordon. Keane
still believes that a deal is possible for the 24-year-old who is widely
regarded as the best British-born goalkeeper currently playing the game.
Despite going on a run of just two defeats in 20 games as they won the
Championship title last season Keane acknowledged that he would need to
strengthen the squad massively if they were to compete in the top flight.
Sunderland’s owners, led by Chairman and former Irish legend Niall
Quinn, announced that significant money would be available for new players.
But Quinn said this week: “Players have never been more expensive.
A lot of clubs have big money to pay and they are all going for the same
players, that means that prices are a lot higher than they should be.
“We have no problem spending money but neither Roy nor I are willing
to pay over-the-odds for a player, that is not good for the club in the
long-term.”
Keane believes that he needs four or five more players to make Sunderland
competitive in the Premiership but with the speculation continuing and
the clock ticking Roy Keane could be facing the toughest weeks of his
managerial career to date. |
