As much as Roy Keane has accomplished in both his playing and punditry career, he will never be able to avoid Saipan as a topic of conversation.
The story behind his exit from Ireland’s 2002 World Cup camp has been discussed to death at this point. Still, 23 years on from the event, it remains a divisive subject for all those involved.
Roy Keane has certainly never backtracked from his stance on the matter, having still not spoken to Mick McCarthy over two decades on.
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Roy Keane Not Impressed With Ian Wright’s Mick McCarthy Saipan Defence
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Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy are highly unlikely to mend their differences at this stage.
Keane remains adamant that the then Ireland boss was completely in the wrong for the way he was treated in Saipan, calling him out in front of the other squad members and accusing him of faking injuries in the past.
Saipan was a topic of conversation once again on Stick To Football today. Among the more interesting tidbits from the Cork man’s recollection of events was what he felt was the lack of action from other senior players in the group at the time.
I’d probably do the exact same thing, because the biggest guilt is when you keep your mouth shut…
You want people to try and make things right. It’s when people say ‘that’s not my gig’. You want things done properly, not perfection, but you want progress…
There were other lads who played loads of games the same as me, played hundreds of games.
Sometimes I look back and think ‘how can you sit there?’ They’re looking at me like ‘off you go’. I couldn’t sit there and go ‘all the best’.
However, that was not the most eye-catching part of the conversation. That came when Ian Wright tried to look at the events in Saipan from Mick McCarthy’s perspective.
The former Arsenal man hinted that McCarthy may have felt he had no option but to confront Keane publicly at the time. It was not an opinion that the Irishman seemed to welcome.
Wright: Mick was probably just as frustrated about the gear not coming, but then he was probably worrying about ‘what am I going to have to say to Roy the next time?’
Keane: He shouldn’t be worried about me. He should be more worried that anyone else, not worrying about me.
Wright: Yeah but if you’re the one pulling him asking what’s going on, then it’s not coming, then he’s finding out from someone else it’s not coming. Then he’s thinking ‘Roy’s gonna ask me again, what am I going to say to him?’
Then his ego is going to kick in, because you’ve got a player talking to a manager in a way that the manager might think ‘I’ve got to stand up to him, I’ve got to show him’.
Keane: I kept my mouth shut for years, even at United. When Ferguson called that meeting, and Mick McCarthy called that meeting in front of the players and pulled me up.
I got no problem, if you want to call a meeting, there’s going to be fireworks. I’m not a big lover of fireworks as you know!
Even so far removed from the events in Saipan, it is clear that Roy Keane has not wavered from his stance on the matter.
It seems incredibly unlikely that is going to change at this point.
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