Ste McGovern
Andy Reid has backed Roy Keane to make a successful return to management in the future after the former midfielder was criticised for his methods with the Ireland national team.
The Manchester United legend was at the centre of a spat with Cardiff City loanee Harry Arter and Burnley player Jon Walters while acting as assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland.
Keane was widely castigated for his treatment of Arter, who took a brief hiatus from international duty in the wake of the bust-up.
The entire saga was encapsulated by a leaked Whatsapp voice message from left-back Stephen Ward, which illustrated the extent of the altercation between Keane and the two players.
Reid, who played under Keane at Sunderland in 2008, has come out in defence of the Cork native’s methods, saying that players who don’t like it should ‘work on their personalities’.
“Roy is demanding,” Reid told TalkSport.
“He demands high standards, he demands things and you need to be mentally strong working with him. I don’t see any problem with that.
“People are saying ‘oh well you can’t treat players like that anymore’… what, you can’t demand high standards? You can demand high standards. Day in, day out.
“Pass the ball properly. 10-yard pass, make sure it’s done properly. If there’s a tackle there to be made, tackle. Do it properly. Everything do it properly.
“I don’t see anything wrong with that and if people can’t deal with that then they need to work on their personalities.”
The former Spurs and Charlton midfielder won two caps for Ireland while Keane was assistant to Martin O’Neill, and believes he still has got what it takes to improve a squad with his presence.
“I was in two or three squads with him when Martin took over and Roy was in there and it is a different dynamic for Roy; he’s not the manager.
“Although he’s going to let you know his opinion, there’s times when he has to step back, and there’s times when he has to be the one going up to people and having that quiet little chat with them.
“But listen if Roy Keane is coming up and having that quiet little chat with you, you’re going to respond to him. I remember playing with him and I’d say Roy is one of the best players I played with because whenever he came into a team they raised their game by one or two per cent; because he was in the team.
“Not because of anything he did on the ball, because he was there and because of his personality. Now if everyone on the team raises their game by one or two per cent your team is going up by 10 or 20 per cent in your performance.
“I’ve never seen another player have that type of an effect on a team before and Roy is probably still trying to find his way to do that in coaching and in management and when he does I think he can be very, very successful.”
Keane, who won seven Premier League titles as a player with United, has reprised his role as Martin O’Neill’s assistant at Nottingham Forest, where they are attempting to get the Reds back into the top flight for the first time in twenty years.