Happy players are helping results says Whitehead

Feb 26 2009 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

DEAN Whitehead believes that dialogue between the Sunderland squad and the management is behind the club’s recent upturn in fortunes – after revealing that previous boss Roy Keane didn’t listen to his players.

Along with the club’s senior professional Dwight Yorke, Sunderland skipper Whitehead has been assigned the unofficial title of dressing room spokesman – and he has been presenting any issues that the players have to boss Ricky Sbragia.

That has led to a steep improvement in morale and a steady boost to the club’s playing fortunes. Indeed, Whitehead believes it has also given the club a unity that was missing in the final months of the Keane era.

His words continue the theme of Sunderland exorcising the ghosts of their former manager, who gave his first interview since leaving the Wearside club over the weekend.

While it would be overstating matters to say Keane’s revelations have prompted a backlash from players and management in favour of the Sbragia approach, it has certainly led to the most revealing explanations yet of the failings that undermined his final few months.

Whitehead’s own relationship with Keane was always assumed

to be rocky but the midfielder insists he retains respect for his former boss and will not criticise him.

But he is clearly reveling in the increased responsibility that has been handed to him by Sbragia, who is a much more relaxed and open boss to work for.

"Things haven’t changed a drastic amount since Ricky took over it’s just little things he’s done differently that have had a big impact," Whitehead said.

"Each week he brings in slight changes or new stuff to try and I think the lads are really plugging in to it – and it’s showing the benefit on the pitch, which is what really matters.

"We’ve worked a lot on set- pieces and ways to break the opposition down and I think when you look at how we competed with Arsenal, it seems to be working.

"He has a more relaxed approach than Roy Keane. Ricky has been looking to me and Yorkie to keep him informed of the mood in the camp, share the views of the players, that type of thing.

"I’m finding that much more comfortable actually. I’ve had a lot of dialogue with the manager since he’s taken over and that’s good for me and I’m really enjoying it.

"The players now know that they are being listened to, which maybe hadn’t always been the case."

Whitehead and the rest of the squad appear nonplussed about Keane’s weekend interview, in which he criticised the idea that it was his responsibility to make sure players attended training with a ‘smile on their face’.

"I haven’t read the Roy Keane interview but I’ve heard about what he’s reported to have said," Whitehead said. "I’m not bothered. The players don’t really talk about him any more but we respect him.

"He did a great job here and we ain’t got a bad word to say about him. That’s football, players and managers move on and you’ve just got to deal with it. But we don’t discuss him any more."

The improving form also gives Sunderland realistic hopes of taking something from a faltering Liverpool side when they travel to Anfield next week.

"Getting a result against Arsenal gives us the confidence to take to Liverpool," he said.

"We’ve proved that we can defend against the best of them but also that we can create chances of our own.

"We’ve got more confidence than we had and that’s helping us to play better stuff than maybe we had been earlier in the season.

"So we go to Anfield not fearing them and looking to do the same job that we managed at the Emirates."