MX23RW : Sunday, January 12 04:19:23| >> :600:2201393:2201393:

John Delaney: 'No Roy Keane problems'

FAI chief executive John Delaney says that there is no animosity between himself and Roy Keane.

The Football Association of Ireland's chief executive, John Delaney, has urged supporters to put any ill feelings that they harbour towards Roy Keane behind them.

Former Manchester United midfielder Keane is expected to be confirmed as the Republic of Ireland's assistant manager to Martin O'Neill over the coming days.

During his playing career, Keane was involved in a bust-up with both manager Mick McCarthy and Delaney regarding the standard of the training facilities available to the Irish players at the 2002 World Cup in Saipan, while he has since been critical of some of the latter's decision.

"Saipan is 11 or 12 years ago - that's a long time ago. We all make comments at certain times that we regret, certainly I have. Up until last week I had never sat down with Roy because when he was with the Irish team he would have been a player and dealings wouldn't have been with the chief executive," he told Sky Sports News.

"We met last week and I was very, very impressed with him. He wants to come. He's an Irishman and was a great footballer. Martin wanted him to be his assistant and I come from a school where you must support the backroom team that he wants around him. It was Martin's choice and I had no problem with that.

"We spoke about the past for 30 seconds, but there was an agreement for the sake of Irish football that we'd all work together. People need to draw a line in the sand and move on. It's gone - now is the time to stop talking about Saipan."

Keane made 67 appearances for Ireland at senior international level.

ID:115948: cacheID:115948:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2663:
Written by
Liam Apicella
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Roy Keane in action for Manchester United at Aston Villa.
Read Next:
O'Neill wants Keane as Ireland assistant?
>
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
1am
Steelers
@
Ravens
6pm
Broncos
@
Bills
9.30pm
Packers
@
Eagles
Tables header RHS
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool19144147192846
2Arsenal20117239182140
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest20124429191040
4Chelsea20106439241536
5Newcastle UnitedNewcastle20105534221235
6Manchester CityMan City2010463627934
7Bournemouth209653023733
8Aston Villa209563032-232
9Fulham207943027330
10Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton2061043029128
11Brentford208393835327
12Tottenham HotspurSpurs20731042301224
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd206592328-523
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham206592439-1523
15Crystal Palace204972128-721
16Everton193881525-1017
17Wolverhampton WanderersWolves2044123145-1416
18Ipswich TownIpswich2037102035-1516
19Leicester CityLeicester2035122344-2114
20Southampton2013161244-326


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!