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After disgracing himself in the debacle with the Republic of Ireland at the World Cup, he now admits in his book that the 'challenge' on Alf Inge Haaland was in fact premeditated - in other words, a deliberate assault.
He was sent off and banned for three games at the time, and now faces another FA disrepute charge. To be honest, I don't think a disrepute charge is enough - unless any related fine is massive, and any additional ban is substantially more than three games.
This is an interesting test for the FA. Will they dare impose a second ban for the same offence, now that they know it was a deliberate assault? Having recently fined Arsenal £50,000 for their "disciplinary problems" last season, surely an admission of a deliberate assault on a fellow professional warrants at least an equal amount? And probably a lengthy suspension too?
Haaland has played just one full game since the incident; his career has been on hold at best, and at worst could be over. I hope that he decides to press formal assault charges. Whehter you like Keane or not, there is surely no defence whatsoever for these actions.
This admission surely also diminishes his standing among his fellow professionals. Personally I have always believed that he is quite simply a nasty piece of work - now he's proved it.
There are two certainties arising from this admission:
1. Keane is a bigger idiot than even I gave him credit for. Committing the offence was bad enough; admitting it publicly is utterly moronic.
2. This season's derby matches between United and City will certainly be worth watching.
After disgracing himself in the debacle with the Republic of Ireland at the World Cup, he now admits in his book that the 'challenge' on Alf Inge Haaland was in fact premeditated - in other words, a deliberate assault.
He was sent off and banned for three games at the time, and now faces another FA disrepute charge. To be honest, I don't think a disrepute charge is enough - unless any related fine is massive, and any additional ban is substantially more than three games.
This is an interesting test for the FA. Will they dare impose a second ban for the same offence, now that they know it was a deliberate assault? Having recently fined Arsenal £50,000 for their "disciplinary problems" last season, surely an admission of a deliberate assault on a fellow professional warrants at least an equal amount? And probably a lengthy suspension too?
Haaland has played just one full game since the incident; his career has been on hold at best, and at worst could be over. I hope that he decides to press formal assault charges. Whehter you like Keane or not, there is surely no defence whatsoever for these actions.
This admission surely also diminishes his standing among his fellow professionals. Personally I have always believed that he is quite simply a nasty piece of work - now he's proved it.
There are two certainties arising from this admission:
1. Keane is a bigger idiot than even I gave him credit for. Committing the offence was bad enough; admitting it publicly is utterly moronic.
2. This season's derby matches between United and City will certainly be worth watching.
Off the top of my head the ones that I can think off are Greame LeSaux, did he not kick another player (possibly alan shearer) in the head one game? Or what about the likes of Cantona, Vinnie Jones, Jullian D icks (Why can't I post his name? :-) ) etc.
A load of fuss about something which happens every football game.
Should he banned? No, he already was banned for it, just because he says he meant it should make no difference.
He should be fined, more than the usual tiny amount of his weekly wages and the money given to a charity of some sort.
> A load of fuss about something which happens every football game.
Deliberate assault does not occur in every game!
I agree things go on in every game, but most of it is not intended to cause serious physical injury. If someone trips you, you trip them. High tackles also happen from time to time, usually through a rush of blood, or mis-timed challenges borne of frustration. Even if it were deliberate, most people would be too smart to come out and admite it publicly.
If they do, then surely they must be hit hard.
I also don't see how you can say it has been blown out of proportion by the media. The video of the 'challenge' leaves little room for doubt. We all knew it was deliberate at the time, but proving it is almost impossible.
I also don't agree that this is all "just because it's Roy Keane" - people would be just as outraged if it were Vieira, Le Saux, or any lesser players. In fact if it were Vieira, I believe a further lengthy ban would be inevitable.
The fact is that this was an assault carried out under the 'cover' of a professional sport - something which must be stopped immediately. Now he has admitted as much, and should be punished accordingly. If he did that on the street, he may well have got a short prison sentence, and hopefully that is what will happen as and when Haaland presses charges.
What he did is wrong, I'll not even try and say it wasn't but I just think that because he is Roy Keane people don't look at it in the same was as if someone like michael Owen who was to say it.
Don't forget that he is a great player,sadly it seems football is no longer just what happens on the pitch, more and more off the pitch problems like this seem to be damaging the game more and more.
> I see your points and they are all fair points. But you are an Arsenal
> fan, would your feelings be the same if this was Henry or Viera in
> this situation.
Absolutely. There's no place for this in football, no matter how competitive it is. If it were Henry or Vieira, I'd be disgusted - they'd have no business wearing the shirt.
I seem to recall voicing my disgust here when Vieira spat in Ruddock's face some time ago. The was disgraceful, but it wasn't a career-threatening action.
That said, I believe Vieira has gone a long way to improving his self control over the last season or so. Gerrard's disgusting tackle in Sunday's Community Shield match would once have seen Vieira dismissed minutes later for an over-the-top reaction, but now he holds his temper much better and retaliates through his football. He still has his moments, but they're fewer and further between, and he is shaking off that bad-boy image.
Many players learned last season that they can't provoke Vieira as easily as they once did. Taking the captaincy at Arsenal for much of last season, and now permanently, seems to have made Vieira accept that he needs to be more responsible.
Keane, though, despite having been United's captain for years, seems to be steamrollering on regardless, and learning nothing.
The biggest joke about this is that Keane apparently blamed Haaland for an injury he received several years earlier (when Haaland was a Leeds player), which put him out for a few months. I may be wrong, but if I recall correctly, that injury was self-inflicted when Keane tried to make another rash challenge on Haaland!
> Keane, though, despite having been United's captain for years, seems
> to be steamrollering on regardless, and learning nothing.
Cantona was the same but it was this so called 'passion' that made his such an outstanding player. Keane is similar in a way. But he does take things way too far. Remember the Cantona incident where he kicked the fan, to me this is similar.
> The biggest joke about this is that Keane apparently blamed Haaland
> for an injury he received several years earlier (when Haaland was a
> Leeds player), which put him out for a few months. I may be wrong,
> but if I recall correctly, that injury was self-inflicted when Keane
> tried to make another rash challenge on Haaland!
I thought it was the other way round but it was a while back so I could be wrong. But I was sure Haaland made a horrific tackle on Keane.
He is a filthy player, who thinks he can get away with things because he is Man Utd's captain. He sucks.
He left Japan because he didn't like the manager...how sad and sulky is that, eh?
Yet people dismiss it because he's a 'good' player.
Viera is far superior. Keane's just an Irish git.
I'm an Arsenal fan, and very loyal, too.
So that's biased :-D
> I'm an Arsenal fan, and very loyal, too.
In that case, you could at least spell Vieira's name right! :-)
But end of the day, Keane got the tw@t that that was involved in the incident that won Arsenal the League in 1998. Ye, Arsenal were good that year, but before Keane got injured we were cruising in the league and some bookies even stopped taking bets on United winning it.
Ye, I would have probably slated any player that doesnt play for United for doing the same, but I commend Gerrard for trying to take out Veiria on Sunday.
I DIDNT THINK BEFORE I WROTE THIS> I JUST WROTE WHAT WAS AT THE FRONT OF MY MIND.