Roy Keane clarifies statement on young players and bemoans lazy journalism
Ipswich Town manager Roy Keane clarified the point he wished to make about fielding inexperienced players after his side's 2–0 defeat to Nottingham Forest on Saturday, 23 October.
Ipswich went two goals down in the first half in the Championship encounter, prompting Keane to comment on how his young squad struggles to enter games confidently.
The Irishman's team has only scored one goal in the opening 45 minutes of their league games this season.
"We're asking certain younger players to do, I think, men's jobs, and that was my message," Keane reiterated to reporters on Monday, 25 October, underlining that he still backs his squad to improve.
"It was pretty straight-forward. But as usual, people go off on different angles but I'm getting used to that now. It's taken me years to get used to what angles certain writers may use."
The outspoken Keane, who played for Manchester United between 1993 and 2005, captaining the team from 1997 until his departure, also said that his comments are often distorted in the press.
Prior to the 2002 World Cup, Keane was reported to have leveled insults at Ireland's national team manager Mick McCarthy shortly before leaving the Japanese island of Saipan disappointed with the seriousness of McCarthy's preparations for the tournament.
"A lot of my comments over the years have been taken out of context and blown out of proportion. But I suppose that's the makeup of my personality, but I do think there are some lazy journalists out there. The usual word that follows me is 'blasts' like
I blast things left, right and centre. I don't — you can ask my players that."
Keane began his management career at Sunderland in 2006, where he won the Championship title in 2007. He replaced Jim Magilton at Ipswich in April 2009.
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