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Bristling Keane to shatter peace in Sleepy Hollow
THE brooding looks, fascination with beards and celebrations of masculinity and sheer naked aggression.
Anyone flicking through the sports pages of the national newspapers last week could have been forgiven for thinking something had gone awry at the printers, and a novel destined for the adult fiction shelf of Waterstones had been reproduced instead.
Pithy articles about taking the dog for a walk definitely set alarm bells ringing.
Fortunately the fourth estate was discussing Roy Keane's appointment as Ipswich Town manager rather than indulging in some sort of strange erotic fantasy.
Life at Portman Road, at least for the duration of the former Manchester United midfielder's stewardship, will never be the same again.
(A little bit like Talking Sport's ticker).
By spiriting a combustible character like Keane into Suffolk's sleepy footballing hollow, Marcus Evans, the Championship club's owner has clearly taken a risk.
As the Irishman's tenure at Sunderland showed, not to mention his World Cup swansong, there is always a risk that what at first glance appears to be a marriage made in heaven can end in messy and acrimonious divorce.
Keane's presence at Portman Road will certainly guarantee Ipswich spend more time than usual basking in the media spotlight.
But, as he stressed after celebrating his arrival with an emphatic victory over Cardiff, he wants to be judged on substance, not style.
Results, not column inches, are the aim.
An accomplished player, Keane, by his own admission, remains a work in progress on the touchline.
Visitors to the Stadium of Light do not have to search too hard to find stories about how his abrasive style eventually alienated members of the Wearsiders squad.
But, in the North-East, Keane was working with bigger names and even bigger egos. Which, as any supporter will tell you, are all too easily bruised.
From the outside he needs to relax a little. Take a few deep breaths and perhaps even lighten up.
But Ipswich's players are striving to reach the same heights their new chief achieved as a player, so are unlikely to question his more hard-line methods.
Don't bet against them mounting a serious charge for promotion next term.
Listening to a North Yorkshire radio station on Sunday evening, it was refreshing to hear York City's players and staff blooming with pride ahead of their FA Trophy trip to Wembley.
The national stadium's surface, much-maligned following the recent round of FA Cup semi-finals, will be dug-up after the Minstermen's clash with Blue Square Premier rivals Stevenage.
There were, however, no complaints from Martin Foyle's squad during last Wednesday's press day beneath the iconic arch.
"Compared to what we're used to it's like a carpet," glowed one.
Wembley, quite rightly, should aim to achieve excellence in all aspects.
But claims by Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger that it is impossible to play football on its present pitch?
Really.
The likes of Alan Hudson, Charlie Cooke, Billy Bremner and Eddie Gray, who with Chelsea and Leeds managed to serve up one of the most thrilling contests Wembley has witnessed in living memory on what resembled an allotment in 1970, will have raised a collective eyebrow.
The TV companies, whose refusal to screen Carl Froch's superb super-middleweight title defence against Jermain Taylor in the early hours of Sunday relegated it to the backwaters of a delayed broadcast on ITV4 instead, really need to take stock.
The Nottingham based boxer's 12th round stoppage made for compelling viewing.
Much more so than 'Hairy Angels', precocious schoolkids and Simon Cowell's ridiculous waist-hugging pants.
Got a view? Add your comment below.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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