Not so Keane when the pressure’s on

DEC 6 — Another week, another manager loses his job in England. Or did Roy Keane actually walk out on Sunderland?

It has now been confirmed that he turned his back on the very people who were looking to him for leadership. He certainly has taken the easy way out and even sunk lower by only sending a text message to inform the club.

The Black Cats, as Sunderland are popularly called, are in trouble after losing five out of the last six matches and this is when the players need him most, but his weakness as a man comes to the fore again.

After all, this is the same man who walked out on his country after going to Japan for the 2002 World Cup.

Ireland showed he was not needed as they did very well in the group stages, beating Saudi Arabia 3-0, and drawing 1-1 with both Germany and Cameroon, respectively, before going out on penalties to Spain in the last 16.

I wouldn’t be surprised if fellow Irishman Niall Quinn, who is chairman of Sunderland, will also now take the club in the right direction having poured in more than ?80 million (RM448 million) in the transfer market last summer.

I can’t believe how some people can still regard Keane as a professional footballer or professional anything. He is anything but!

Anyone in football who goes out to intentionally end the career of another player in a game deserves ignominy. More so, when he wouldn’t even come out and say he was sorry for what he had done, but instead, proudly wrote about his vile action in a book.

The only good thing coming out of this will be that by stepping down, any compensation by Sunderland will be minimal, unlike for a dismissal that could cost the club millions.

Sadly for English football, because of his efforts in bringing Sunderland up from the depths of Championship football and actually keeping them up in the Premiership last season, there will be other clubs ready to recruit him.

For the rest of us, I can safely say “good riddance to bad rubbish!”

This weekend Sunderland will take on Manchester United. MU are looking to build on their derby win last week. A win was what MU needed last week and to the delight of their fans, they showed their newly-cash rich neighbours that the city is still very much dominated by Red.

Carlos Tevez’s four goal blitz last Wednesday in the Carling Cup 5-3 thriller with Blackburn Rovers will give Alex Ferguson a headache. It would be interesting to see who the Scotsman fields today. Surely Tevez deserves a start instead of the lazy Bulgarian Dimitar Berbatov.

Ferguson’s opposite number, former MU reserves coach Ricky Sbragia, who has temporarily taken charge at Sunderland, will find it too daunting a task to ask of anything more than a respectable loss, with a possible goal for the visitors in return. It would be very safe to take the Red Devils for a comfortable cover of the Asian handicap line if you are the betting type.

After last week’s glorious victory at Stamford Bridge, Arsenal are finally built to last. Some say the appointment of Cesc Fabregas as captain has steadied the ship at the Emirates.

Yes, I know they are the same team as before, and still quite badly hit with injuries to a few key players, but they really cannot do anything wrong against Wigan, and will win the match.

I still believe that Arsenal are in desperate need of finding consistency. Last week was great but every week needs to be great for the Gunners from now on.

I have to admit one thing about the Arsenal supporters in Malaysia though. I hope that there’ll be more Arsenal fans at viewing parties at live telecast of Arsenal matches. Last week, when Robin van Persie scored the equaliser followed by the winner, there were more MU fans jumping for joy than the Gooners at certain spots around Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya.

I suppose the good thing is that we can identify who are the true Arsenal supporters as opposed to the so-called fans who only come out to watch when times are good and the team is on a winning streak. Please don’t bother supporting any team if that is going to be your attitude. You know who you are.

Chelsea travel to The Reebok hoping to bring back some cheer in their camp. After dropping four points in the last two matches, they will have to win again to keep their distance over MU and Arsenal.

Bolton Wanderers are no easy meat. They play a physical game and will be pushing the Chelsea millionaires with some hard tackles. The Blues need to keep their cool if they intend to win this.

These days, Liverpool seems to be in a rare “crisis”. Needing a non-existent penalty to avoid losing at home in the Champions League, then failing to score against Fulham away and West Ham at Anfield, it was no surprise that the Reds were booed off the field on Monday.

Just a year ago, and let me remind you for the last umpteen years too, Liverpool fans would have done anything to be in the situation they are in this season. Now that they are at the top, they demand more.

I know this will enrage Liverpool fans but sorry guys I’m just stating the inevitable, the Liverpool hype will eventually die off as the season goes just like how it did for Arsenal last season.

They may be at the top even as the year turns but they will surely fall to the dismay of their fans as inexperience and fatigue kick in.

Still, if a second string MU can hit five past Blackburn, surely even a Torres-less Liverpool can score against them. Liverpool will show their former boy Paul Ince that life in the Premier League is a hard one, after his midweek lesson against another former club.