Keane to make a move for Savage

Dec 29 2007 by Paul Gilder, The Journal

ROY Keane is confident struggling Sunderland have the stomach to wage a successful fight against relegation after drawing on his boxing background in an attempt to inspire his punch-drunk players.

But a manager determined to take no chances remains keen to increase his side’s combative qualities after stepping up his attempts to sign Blackburn’s Robbie Savage.

The pugnacious midfielder is understood to have travelled to the North-East to discuss a £2m transfer and, although a deal cannot be completed before this afternoon’s must-win Premier League game against Bolton, Keane hopes to add Savage to his squad before next weekend’s FA Cup third-round tie against Wigan Athletic.

The experienced 33-year-old is renowned for his confrontational style. Having challenged his existing players to scrap for their top-flight lives, Keane is determined to make sure the fightback begins this afternoon.

“It’s like being in a boxing match,” said the Black Cats boss – a promising pugilist as a child. “We’ve taken some blows, some massive ones, and the referee is looking in our eyes and thinking we’re preparing to chuck the towel in.

“But we’re still on our feet and for as long as that is the case we’ve got a chance. I still think that the players are giving their all. If I didn’t think that, I’d be worried, I’d be losing sleep. But we’re keeping going and we fight on.”

Keane must lift his players from the canvas following Boxing Day’s pummelling at Manchester United’s hands. But although it will be difficult to recover from a 4-0 thumping that pushed the club closer to the Championship, the Irishman has stressed that, although his team are down, Sunderland are not out for the count.

“It’s tough, but life’s tough,” he said last night. “It’s a mental thing – the mistakes are starting to cost us, and you go into games thinking, ‘This is a must-win match’. This is what we’re up against, it’s staring us in the face.

“It (Wednesday’s defeat against Manchester United) isn’t the end of the world, and we’re going to keep battling on, we’re going to keep fighting for Sunderland. If it turns out that it isn’t enough, no one can say anything.”

Black Cats officials are understood to have offered Savage a three-year contract and are hopeful a deal can be completed once the transfer embargo is lifted next week, although the deal is expected to be delayed until after Wednesday’s match between the clubs.

Keane knows that his club’s Premier League position hinges on his recruitment plans and a manager understood to have submitted a £3m offer for Portsmouth’s Matthew Taylor has admitted that Sunderland’s slide to 19th place in the top-flight standings could impact upon his efforts.

“I guess time will tell whether our recent results will make it more difficult to sign players,” said a manager able to boast just three wins all season. “If we were higher up the table it might be different. I’ve always believed that this is an attractive club for players. But let’s not kid ourselves – we’ll not be bringing in loads. I hope I’ll be able to bring in two or three. But that might be about it.”

Keane will put his transfer plans to one side this afternoon as he attempts to engineer a result that could enable the Black Cats to escape the top-flight drop-zone. That a home match against opponents, like Sunderland, yet to win on their travels this season is an important one is obvious.

“I suppose you’d put this one down as a must-win game and, for the first time in a long time, I wouldn’t disagree,” he added. “Home games are always important and, given our away results, we’ve got to beat Bolton. To do that would be a big bonus.

“No one likes to lose football matches, but the spirit is good because we’ve got good lads here. If we didn’t have that, we’d be in trouble. But we have to start backing it up with results. We’ll have to be better in the second half of the season than we’ve been in the first – if we don’t there’s a good chance we’ll be in the Championship next season. But we’re determined to keep fighting and to put things right.”