Source: Eurosport
Big Sam hits out at Keane comments
Sam Allardyce has delivered a withering put-down to Roy Keane after the Irishman's outburst at his former Manchester United team-mates. Keane, the new Ipswich manager, questioned whether Steve Bruce and Mark Hughes should be regarded as "good managers" or successful because they have yet to win a trophy.But Allardyce, whose Blackburn team come up against Bruce's Wigan side on Sunday, said Keane himself had a long way to go to be seen alongside either of his former United team-mates in terms of club management.Allardyce said: "I find that statement to be quite bizarre to be perfectly honest."What Sparky and Brucey have done with the resources they have had shows they are both top managers and very capable managers."I think that Roy's a long distance away from a Steve Bruce and a Mark Hughes by his lack of experience in the job."So I find that quite a bizarre statement and I wouldn't agree with that at all."Allardyce said that for clubs such as Wigan, being successful did not mean just winning trophies.He added: "Being successful means being more consistent in their results and finishing higher up the table than they have ever done before."What Brucey has done in a short time at Wigan and getting them safe in the Premier League as early as he has done has been a tremendous achievement."Allardyce is good friends with Bruce but is expecting no favours at Ewood Park on Sunday, and is hoping that a short break for the players at Gleneagles will have eased some of the pressure of the relegation fight from their shoulders.The break was paid for out of the players' fines fund, and Allardyce said golf and bonding could be more important at this stage of the season that lengthy hours on the training pitch.He added: "Having a bit of relaxation has been the most important thing to take away the pressures of this transparent bubble we all live in."If you start worrying about it too much, it can be bad for preparation for the game."We know it's going to be a tough game. There are lots of managers in the Premier League that I know extremely well but Brucey's one I know better than most but friendship goes out of the window for those 90 minutes."Certainly I would love to be in his position playing this game but whatever happens we will have a drink after and see where we go from there."[LNB]
