Gordon Strachan backing Roy Keane

Feb 6 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

HIS managerial reputation may have taken a battering this season, but Gordon Strachan remains convinced Roy Keane has the qualities to make it to the top.

New-look Middlesbrough, who could include five debutants in their starting line-up, travel to Keane’s Ipswich today desperately looking for the result which will turn around their miserable season.

It is a reunion of sorts for the pair, who worked together when Keane ended his illustrious playing career with a six-month spell at his boyhood club Celtic, then managed by Strachan.

Both managers have had their struggles this season but Boro boss Strachan believes the former Sunderland boss has the one thing that is key to succeeding in management – the ability to squeeze the best from his players.

Although Keane’s Celtic career was blighted by injuries there were flashes of brilliance in his 10-game spell at Parkhead, and his influence off the pitch was crucial to helping the Bhoys complete a league and cup double in 2006.

“Roy was terrific to work with. He was low-maintenance, a great player,” Strachan revealed. “He was great with the young men at Celtic Park, the kids loved him. He had that drive to bring the best out of the people around him.

“That’s what you have got to do as a manager; it’s not about being a great manager, just trying to get the best out of people.

“To get the best out of people can be a bit rough at times. I’m not saying Roy does that, but you have to be a bit like that to get what you want sometimes.

“I spoke to him about four weeks ago. He is a good student of the game. It’s not so much tactics, it’s about getting the best out of groups. He was at Manchester United and tried to get the best out of a group of players around him.

“There’s so much rubbish talked about tactics, when in reality it’s more about getting the best out of a group.

“He had a presence at Celtic. When you are in the tunnel ahead of an Old Firm game you need big characters, like Neil Lennon, John Hartson, Roy Keane, Stiliyan Petrov. You need players like that.” Portman Road represents a step into the unknown for Strachan’s new-look side, who will have to learn quickly if they are to make up ground on the top six.