Roy Keane
Ablett book calls for Roy Keane return
By Dave Gooderham
Thursday, April 19, 2012
3:54 PM
GARY Ablett has described Roy Keane’s failure to land a top manager’s job after leaving Ipswich Town as a “massive loss” to football.
The FA Cup winner with Liverpool and Everton was offered a coaching job by Keane in the summer of 2010, but saw his spell in Suffolk cut short when he was told he had contracted non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma soon after.
Ablett spent his last few months writing his autobiography, ‘The Game Of My Life’, before losing his brave battle against cancer on New Year’s Day.
The book contains sweeping praise for the support shown by Keane and the club as a whole – and also an impassioned plea to the footballing fraternity about the former Blues boss.
Ablett wrote: “If I have learned anything from Roy over the months that have gone by, then it is that he is a massive loss to football. He’s getting itchy feet since leaving Ipswich, and he wants to go back into management as soon as possible.
“If you are a football chairman you seriously have to ask yourself why you wouldn’t want Roy Keane running your football club. Sure, he has strong views and knows just how he wants things to be done. But what’s wrong with that? Surely it’s better to have that than a manager who can’t make up his mind?
“The bottom line is that Roy Keane is a winner and which chairman out there does not want their manager to be a winner?”
Ablett was offered a coaching role at Ipswich ahead of the 2010/11 season – taking his place on the bench for a pre-season friendly at Newmarket Town.
His condition suddenly deteriorated the night before Town played a friendly at PSV Eindhoven and within weeks, his desire to recover from a doomed management spell at Stockport County had been overtaken by a much more serious battle. But his brief working relationship under Keane certainly left an impression – on and off the pitch.
He wrote: “Ipswich were desperate to get back into the Premier League. Having Roy in charge, someone who lives for success, seemed the perfect fit. He was someone who I had obviously admired as a player, and he had shown with Sunderland that he was cut out for management as well.
“Roy has this reputation as a hard man, hard as nails, and detached emotionally. But I have seen another side to him with the support he’s constantly offered me throughout my illness.”
‘The Game Of My Life’, which was released on general sale this week, sees Ablett reflect on his on-the-pitch glories with the two Merseyside giants as well as his brave battle against cancer.
Describing when doctors told him he had an aggressive form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he said: “That was that. A life-changing sentence uttered matter of factly, like a manager reading out his starting XI at half past one on a Saturday afternoon.
“It’s not a very ‘football’ way to react to things. But that day I wept buckets.”
n ‘The Game Of My Life’ is available from retailers, priced £16.99, or online via www.merseyshop.com.
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12 comments
Come on everyone! The RK reign is over and I do not want to look back at a period of ITFC football which was largely boring, and negative. A time when players seemed to be frightened at getting things wrong rather than trying to be creative and positive. Ok I know we are still not in a greater league position now, but we have had some good results and performances this year, especially in 2012. I want to be positive going into 201213 and I hope the team can be that way too. Positive support might help too?
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St John Blue
Friday, April 20, 2012
Quagmire.....if you ask Liam Trotter, he credits Keane with helping him no end, and he decided not to accept the contract offered, he was NOT sold to Millwall. Brian, I agree with much, if not almost all of what you have posted, other than Jordan Rhodes. He is his own man, and left because he was impressed with Lee Clark, and has scored an absurd amount of goals this year. When he was sold, the argument that he is unproven was trotted out then, and I just don;t agree, as he has scored goals at every level he has played at, and in my view, will continue to do so at both Championship and Premiership level as well. With Lee Clark having left Huddersfield, I would be very, very surprised if Jordan were there next August. As long as he does not go to Norwich, I wish him well. That would be a nightmare! I could see Sheffield Wednesday trying to buy him if they go up
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Kevin Bailey
Friday, April 20, 2012
Oh and of course I should add to previous comment, our captain Carlos Edwards (bought by RK) and the tremendous and friendly welcome he gave to youngsters enjoying the invitation to come to the training ground at Playford Road and spending time with them. Thanks Roy !!
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Brian Wren
Friday, April 20, 2012
The comments in support of RK are factually correct, the negative comments are purely conjecture. Listen, he has kept his dignity with his references to ITFC, the most revealing being that ' the next job I take I will make sure to meet the CEO first'. Fact calendar year 2010 was most successful since 2004, national cup semi, past FA Cup 3rd round, giving youth a chance and great publicity, getting staff out of 'comfort zone' and eradicating the 'soft underbelly'. So here we are now 16 months later in same position but with a decent run of recent results with a team made up of central defensive triangle- DD,TS and ALB (bought or drafted into 1st team by RK), central midfield of GL,LM and Lukie ( as before), strikers JS, DM and a not so sharp Chops but would have been 2 years ago when RK wanted him (as before), others like Livermore, Colbeck, Fulop all plying their trade in Premier League. As for Jordan Rhodes still not proven at high level, draws blanks against high Lge 1 sides and his dad influence in leaving. I think he also said he would gladly walk back to Ipswich. RK possibly needed that assistant that Gary Ablett would have been, he had also tried to bring Brendan Rodgers to the club but he was offered the Swansea manager job. That partnership then possibly would have mirrored the Sir Bobby and B. Ferguson achievements. This last season has proved the enormous task bringing ITFC back to success is going to be, RK was well on the way to making that happen.
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Brian Wren
Friday, April 20, 2012
To keep trotting out the line that we were going to be relegated last year & Jewell saved us is debateable to say the very least. Even if this were true he done so with the players he inherited from Keane !!!!!!! Since then he has brought in1415 of his own players & we are in the same position we were when he took over - so not sure where the salvation comes in. Even now he praises Leadbitter his best player - a mantle previously worn by Martin - & Scotland is showing what we all knew he was capable of now he has accepted a pay cut & is actually getting picked. Even jewells own star - Chopra - would have been bought by Keane had he been given the money - plus of course Murphy - who is keeping Carson out of the side - was originally loaned by Keane - all that without mentioning players like Delaney & the fact that Keane did at least give youth a chance. Yes of course he made mistakes & people will always trot out the Rhodes thing - but the fact remains that thhe Dads Army philosophy of Jewell did not work - the kids saved his job - only to be discarded - & he is being kept afloat at the moment by more of Keanes players than his own largely discredited bunch. He did get it right with Cresswell & Drury (eventually) & JET - but that ratio is about 1 in 5 of the players he brought in !!!
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Old Timer
Friday, April 20, 2012
The dark lord continues to make the local back pages. A struggling Sunderland side? Yes ok they were bottom of the league at the time Keane took over, but it was 3-5 games into the season. He inherited a strong Sunderland squad at the time that quite frankly any manager worth their salt should have got that team promoted. He also had the best part of 30m to spend when they were promoted and just about kept them up in his first full season in the premiership. He was backed at Ipswich initially, spending approx 10m on players like; Martin, Priskin, Leadbitter and Edwards. Yes he gave the youngsters ago, but also sold the likes of; Rhodes and Trotter, who have gone on to do very well at their current clubs. No doubting Keane is a winner, but very questionable man management skills and working with players that weren't as talented as himself. His appointment to Ipswich at the time was a piece of PR and advertising brilliance on the clubs behalf. Able to hire a guy with a superb playing career, a young manager who got a club promoted in his first ever season of management, a fascinating and controversal personality which displayed a great show of intent and ambition by Marcus Evans to get a guy like Keane to come to 'sleepy Suffolk'. And I'm sure Keane's constant appearances and rants on Sky Sports News every Friday on all matters not to do with Ipswich, with Marcus Evans's name in the background was great free advertisement for his business and the club. I hope Keane does get back into management, we need personalities like him in the game and its entertaining watching, but never back here or anywhere near Suffolk. He ripped the soul from the club and Jewell always had a job on his hands repairing the damage.
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Quagmire
Friday, April 20, 2012
Tom, have you forgotten what he did at Sunderland? 2010 was the best calendar year at Ipswich since 2010 and he got sacked. We have really set the world on fire since.... The mess as you call it, was more to do with Clegg's inability to understand football, something that was hardly down to Keane. Walters wanted to leave, and why shouldn't he? He was acting like a prima donna before he left, and that irritated Keane. From your posts, Tom, frankly, I don't think you know much about football either. Keane is in a different class to Jewell, as a player, a manager and as a person, in my humble opinion, although Jewell is likeable, he is just limited.
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Kevin Bailey
Thursday, April 19, 2012
People seem to forget that Roy Keane took over a struggling Sunderland side & got them promoted the same season. What we don't know is what obstacles were put in his way at Ipswich - though we do know he was unable to sign the players he wanted. We can only imagine what sort of working relationship he had with Clegg - given that he was never one to suffer fools gladly. Still this is all conjecture - but I do think the man got a pretty poor press at Ipswich - which to his eternal credit he never replied. I for one wish him every success in the future - & am fairly confident he will achieve it.
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Old Timer
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Sorry but as much as I rated Keane as a player, he was a poor manager. He took a side that had narrowly missed out on the play-offs, then proceeded to fall out with people at the club, get rid of its best young talent and the likes of Garvan and Walters, and bring in dross. He then fell out with the fans, saying we don't know anything about the game. He almost took the club down, and but for PJ we would have been relegated. PJ's job last season was to keep the club up and try to recover from the mess Keane left.
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Tom
Thursday, April 19, 2012
I doubt many will have this book on their summer reading list then.
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Rob Steroo
Thursday, April 19, 2012
YESSSSSSS!!!! Return to Ipswich, KEANO is back, KEANO is back. I think we all know now the difficult job ITFC is and you WERE getting it right. Come back and complete the success story Royston Maurice Keane (Sir).
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Brian Wren
Thursday, April 19, 2012
A weak or deliberately provocative headline - I presume you mean a return to football not to ITFC, heaven forfend.
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JOHN BURLS
Thursday, April 19, 2012