Source: Telegraph
Roy Keane blames Sunderland exit on businessman Ellis Short
Keane has attributed his dramatic resignation on relations with Quinn and Texas-based Short whose is now taking over the Wearside club from the Drumaville consortium after his purchase of a 30 per cent chunk of shares was revealed by Telegraph Sport last September.[LNB]"We had sat down with him a couple of times, Niall and I," the former Manchester United skipper said of his relationship with Ellis in an interview in the Irish Times.[LNB]"I went down to London to meet him twice. I thought, hmm, the dynamics are changing here. He said he had read my book. I felt he was thinking from the start that I wasn't for him. He sort of knew this wasn't going to be a long-term relationship." Things came to a head in a brief conversation on the eve of his December 4 resignation following the 4-1 defeat by Bolton - Keane's last game in charge.[LNB]"It started with a demand to know where I had been the previous day, that he wanted me available at all times," Keane said. "It was a disappointment.[LNB]Then there were accusations about how often I came in, about moving my family up. And it was the tone." A call to his London-based lawyer, Michael Kennedy, quickly followed which Keane reported as: "Michael, speak with whoever you have to speak to. I'm done with Sunderland." [LNB]He continued: "At United, I finished and I knew I was just an employee to them. At Sunderland it was the same. I left and people came out saying 's gone and we're all more relaxed'.[LNB]"It was them and me. The United experience helped me. It didn't upset me, what happened at Sunderland. It was a business decision. Even for me I suppose it was a business decision. I couldn't give my heart and soul with this fella on my shoulder. That, I'm sure, is how he works." Keane, who said he would be "happy to manage a Championship club", also took aim at Quinn, his former Republic of Ireland team-mate, who had masterminded his appointment as manager in August 2006.[LNB]"He was talking to me about the players needing to come into work with a smile on their face," Keane said. "That really concerned me. The day I walked into Sunderland, putting a smile on the faces of well-paid players was the last thing anybody wanted me to do. Players had been taking the p**s out of the club for years. If they wanted them smiling all the time they should have employed Roy Chubby Brown.[LNB]"My question to Niall was, who are you listening to here? It wasn't Niall.[LNB]It was the undercurrent. Where it was coming from. Smiles on players' faces?[LNB]It's my job to get them training well. There was good spirit. That's what had kept us in the Premiership last year. Our spirit. That got the alarm bells ringing. Without a shadow of a doubt. The American fella would have been on Niall's case.[LNB]"To be fair to Niall, I think he would have been under similar pressure. And maybe this is an understatement, but Niall would be more diplomatic than me.[LNB]He can roll with things." Keane added: "When I became a manager, Niall became a chairman. I always believed we were working together, not one working for the other. It worked well. I couldn't have faked that if I didn't feel it working. Drumaville, they were spot on and it worked.[LNB]"I was more comfortable with Drumaville. I never saw them after matches, I think, but they stuck to what agreement we had. They'd come in, watch the games, and get a flight back home to Ireland." [LNB]Keane has attributed his dramatic resignation to relations with Quinn and Texas-based Short, who is now taking over the Wearside club from the Drumaville consortium after his purchase of a 30 per cent chunk of shares was revealed by Telegraph Sport last September.[LNB]"We had sat down with him a couple of times, Niall and I," the former Manchester United skipper said of his relationship with Short in an interview in the Irish Times.[LNB]"I went down to London to meet him twice. I thought, hmm, the dynamics are changing here. He said he had read my book. I felt he was thinking from the start that I wasn't for him. He sort of knew this wasn't going to be a long-term relationship."[LNB]Things came to a head in a brief conversation on the eve of his December 4 resignation following the 4-1 defeat by Bolton – Keane's last game in charge.[LNB]"It started with a demand to know where I had been the previous day, that he wanted me available at all times. Then there were accusations about how often I came in, about moving my family up. And it was the tone," said Keane.[LNB]A call to his lawyer, Michael Kennedy, quickly followed, which Keane reported as: "Michael, speak with whoever you have to speak to. I'm done with Sunderland." He continued: "At United, I finished and I knew I was just an employee to them. At Sunderland it was the same. I left and people came out saying – he's gone and we're all more relaxed. It was them and me. The United experience helped me. It didn't upset me, what happened at Sunderland. It was a business decision. Even for me, I suppose, it was a business decision. I couldn't give my heart and soul with this fella on my shoulder. That, I'm sure, is how he works."[LNB]Keane, who said he would be "happy to manage a Championship club", also took aim at Quinn, his former Republic of Ireland team-mate, who had masterminded his appointment in August 2006.[LNB]"He was talking to me about the players needing to come into work with a smile on their face," Keane said. "That really concerned me. The day I walked into Sunderland, putting a smile on the faces of well-paid players was the last thing anybody wanted me to do. Players had been taking the p**s out of the club for years. If they wanted them smiling all the time they should have employed Roy Chubby Brown.[LNB]"My question to Niall was, who are you listening to here? It wasn't Niall. It was the undercurrent. Where it was coming from. Smiles on players' faces?[LNB]"It's my job to get them training well. There was good spirit. That's what had kept us in the Premiership last year. Our spirit. That got the alarm bells ringing. Without a shadow of a doubt. The American fella would have been on Niall's case.[LNB]"To be fair to Niall, I think he would have been under similar pressure. And maybe this is an understatement, but Niall would be more diplomatic than me.[LNB]"He can roll with things." Keane added: "When I became a manager, Niall became a chairman. I always believed we were working together, not one working for the other. It worked well. I couldn't have faked that if I didn't feel it working. Drumaville, they were spot on and it worked.[LNB]"I was more comfortable with Drumaville. I never saw them after matches, I think, but they stuck to what agreement we had. They'd come in, watch the games, and get a flight back to Ireland." [LNB]
