Keane keeps squad on tenterhooks

May 17 2008 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

STRIKER Roy O’Donovan is confident he will avoid Roy Keane’s Sunderland summer cull but admits that, along with most of his team-mates, he is being kept guessing on his Black Cats future.

Sunderland signed off for the season this week with Keane pledging to reinforce a squad that achieved their ultimate goal of staying in the Premier League, but enraged the manager in the closing weeks of the season by appearing to step off the gas after their top-flight status was assured.

Keane’s broadside after this month’s defeat at Bolton effectively put all of his squad on probation, including the players who signed up on long-term deals during Sunderland’s recruitment drive last summer.

O’Donovan was one of those snapped up during that close season and, although he has drawn praise from Keane during the campaign he is being kept “on his toes” along with the rest of the squad. And that, the former Cork City forward believes, is a good way of ensuring the players don’t lapse into complacency.

“He (Keane) hasn’t said anything negative to me but, of course, everyone is on their toes,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter how long our contracts are here – anyone can go and as long as the manager is here we’ve got to be on our toes.

“I think he likes that and enjoys players having to be on their guard all the time. He’ll leave players out and you can see that when they’re not in the team they’re champing at the bit to get back in – there is a real hunger among all our players. It worked last season, you can’t argue with the results we got and the fact that we stayed up.

“It was never going to be easy but the fact that we achieved safety is great and means we all went away very positive. A few players coming in would be nice too.”

O’Donovan made solid progress after joining Sunderland from the Eircom League last summer, with Keane gradually phasing the 22-year-old into his first team plans as the season wore on.

His contribution was largely limited to substitute appearances but it was still progress after he was nearly loaned out to Scottish Premier League side Dundee United in August. That move was scuppered by Fifa’s transfer window regulations, something that O’Donovan believes benefited him. “I think it worked out better in the end for me,” he said. “Since that move fell through I became more involved, even if most of the time it was as a substitute. Not everyone gets a chance to play in the Premier League and I believe I’ve got better as a player – stronger and sharper.”

O’Donovan is eyeing more first-team action next season, but can’t envisage Keane dumping the squad rotation policy that he believes was a big factor in the team staying up.

“The rotation was a big part of our success last season,” he said. “When players are out of the team for a time they get a bit more hunger and they want to show themselves that bit more.

“In training people were going for it all season and I think that helped us through some of the hard times.”

Looking ahead, the Cork-born forward believes the future is bright for Sunderland. “I knew it was a big club before I came in but it has surprised me just how big it is,” he admitted.

Meanwhile another of Keane’s Irish recruits, Andy Reid, has withdrawn from the Republic of Ireland’s summer training camp in Portugal because of a hamstring injury.

The 25-year-old trained with the rest of the squad on Wednesday but has not trained since.