Strain game reduces giant Keane to pygmy

3:47pm Thursday 4th December 2008

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ROY Keane's departure from Sunderland this week underlines that once again world class players do not always make brilliant managers. But why on Earth not?

There is a long line of elite players who have failed to cut the mustard when they hold the reins of a football cub, from Sir Bobby Charlton, Glen Hoddle to Keane.

It seems they are giants on the pitch but pygmies in the technical area.

Logically, you would assume that they could use their leadership skills to inspire a squad but somehow they seem too fragile.

Perhaps they lack the patience to really get the best out of players who may not have the talents that they always seemed to ooze during games.

It's not as though they lacked intelligence or insight into the game. In fact, Keane for all his perchant to explode on occasion has always been seen as a perceptive observer of the game.

His comments about the 'prawn sandwich brigade' and the book he collaborated on with Eammon Dunphy certainly demonstrated he had brains to match his unfettered commitment.

Keane has always been his own man, his controversial walk out on Ireland in the 2002 World Cup demonstrated that, but maybe the parting of the ways at the Stadium of Light highlights a growing trend in football.

Top footballers are so well rewarded during their illustrious career now that they can afford to do bugger all for the rest of the lives once they retire and never worry about where the next Armani shirt will come from.

Even if they want to remain involved in the game, many professionals seem happier to become a pundit for the media than have to deal with the stress of managing a top flight English club.

If Keane, a player known for his undying will to win, can't hack it or has simply chosen to get out for the sake of his sanity, then where do the next generation of good managers come from?

Paul Ince may not last long at Ewood Park, despite only taking over in the summer, while there are still doubts that Mark Hughes will be able to cope in the money-rich spotlight at Manchester City.

Then again, if you look at the top five in the Premier League the only manager at the moment who could be have been called an 'elite' is Aston Villa's Martin O'Neil, but as an astute and strong minded individual he certainly breaks the mould.

Alex Ferguson warmed the bench at Rangers, Rafa Benitez probably never graced Spain's top flight, Arsene Wenger played in France's lower leagues and nobody outside of Brazil had heard of Phil Scolari before he became Brazil's manager.

But this quartet and the likes of Bill Shankly, Sir Matt Busby and Sir Bobby Robson in the past, flourish in the rocky soil of football management, juggling man-management skills with patience, resolve, unwavering self-belief and a hard headed attitude.

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