Coaches can do the talking

Mar 20 2008 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

ROY Keane does not believe in idle chit-chat with his players, but he is happy for them to natter to a sports psychologist if they feel it helps them.

The Sunderland manager revealed he only tends to speak to his squad “once a week”, preferring to keep his charges at arms length and leave his coaching staff to deal with them on a day-to-day basis. Given the indifference of Keane – an intensely private man – to communication, it is perhaps surprising that he often arranges for others to come in and talk to his players.

“When I say I don’t talk to them (his players), I talk to them, I suppose, like I talk to you lot, once a week,” he told the Press. “That’s enough, isn’t it?

“People thought I used to talk to Alex Ferguson every other week. I have probably spoken to him one-to-one six times in my life, but people thought we were having tea every morning together. We weren’t.

“He wouldn’t have wanted it and I certainly wouldn’t have wanted it!”

Keane works on an ad-hoc basis with Bill Beswick, the former Middlesbrough assistant manager he was introduced to when Steve McClaren held the same job at Manchester United. Beswick, former head coach of the England basketball team was much-maligned when he linked up with McClaren for a fourth time (they also worked together at Derby County) as England’s psychologist. But the Irishman welcomes the input of people such as Beswick and Steve Smith, the former Olympic high-jumper-turned-motivational speaker.

“Bill has been in once or twice and the high jumper Steve Smith has been in and given a talk,” he said. “We try different things on different occasions. We’re always looking to bring in people who we think can help the players. Sometimes it’s just a case of getting out of the box and thinking a bit differently to the others.

“Steve Smith came in to do general talk. He’s been in a couple of times to talk to the players about the mental side of the game. He did very well with the challenges he faced as a high jumper.

“I’ve been on lots of courses such as the (Fifa) Pro Licence and they bring people from different sports in all the time to speak about different challenges. I’m very open-minded about it.

“Bill has been here once or twice and we’ve had one or two different types of people coming in. You’ve got to get out of the box sometimes. I generally think the players enjoyed it. We don’t tie them into a seat and make them listen for an hour-and-a-half – it’s all very casual. Some people might want to see him one-to-one. Others don’t and they don’t see him again. There is nothing major involved. But I have always been open-minded – even as a player.

“Here some of the lads do extra work with Cleggy (fitness and condition coach Michael Clegg), the weights fella. You just hope the players plug into it. What you want to be seen to be doing is providing different stuff for the players. If the players don’t go and see him I don’t lose any sleep. Some lads are really into it. Everyone to their own.

“I enjoyed chatting to Bill when I was a player. Very much so.”