THE RUMBLE IN SAIPAN

by Ron Walsh

                                                                        During the final year of the 2nd World War in the Pacific, the US Army, Navy and Air-Force moved from one enemy-held island to another, as they pushed onward towards Japan. Saipan was one of those targets, and during the intensive battle to take that island 24,000 Japanese soldiers lost their lives, while 3,500 US Marines also died.

                                                                        Almost sixty years later another volcanic eruption took place on that same island. This one was not between American and Japanese force’s but between Mick McCarthy, manager of the Republic of Ireland soccer team, and Roy Keane, captain of that same team. McCarthy was English born with Irish connections, while Keane hailed from the Rebel County.

                                                                        McCarthy had played for the Irish team during the late 1980’s and early 90’s, and was a good solid central defender who had been given the somewhat overstated title of ‘’Captain Fantastic’’ by the media, a nickname that the young Roy Keane took a dislike to after joining the team in 1991. He also took a total dislike to the man himself, whom he regarded as a very average footballer. ‘’He didn’t convince me’’ (‘’Keane-The Autobiography’’. Roy Keane with Eamon Dunphy. P246). Keane himself was a strong player who became a leader on the field, and was the possessor of an engine that never ran out of steam. One of Ireland’s outstanding players.

                                                                         Keane also possessed an abrasive personality, and often ended up in confrontations with many of his fellow players. McCarthy was appointed manager of the Republic’s team early in 1996, and afterwards Keane commented that ‘’He did change the way Ireland played. He encouraged us to pass the ball’’(p248). Roy had not been a fan of the former manager Jack Charlton either, but his dislike of McCarthy, despite the change in footballing style, almost inevitably led to the burst-up that occurred in Saipan in May of 2002. Up to that time the only question was when and where it would take place.

                                                                         From a difficult group, the Republic of Ireland had qualified for the 2002 World Cup, scheduled to be held in Japan and South Korea. The entire squad had played its part in achieving that outcome, and none more so than Roy Keane himself.

                                                                         On a wet evening in May of 2002 the team played an FAI benefit game against Nigeria in Lansdown Road stadium. They would be flying off to Saipan on the following day, Friday. Prior to the start of the game the Irish prime-minister was introduced to the players, and was well protected from the rain by a servant brandishing a large umbrella. For the prime-minister, not the players. (The manager of the English soccer team would later discover what a silly picture that pose presented.) Nigeria won the game.

                                                                         Following stopovers in Amsterdam and Tokyo the players, together with everyone else in the party, arrived in Saipan on Saturday evening. The island is located some fourteen hundred miles from Japan and had been chosen by the manager as an ideal place for the players to rest and relax following the usual long and arduous English season, and to acclimatise to the heat and humidity. Following six days on the island they would then fly back to Japan and engage in a week’s intensive training prior to their first competitive match. The hotel was excellent and there was a nearby golf course, something that most of the players indulged in.

                                                                         Sunday was a rest day, but that evening McCarthy told everyone that their training gear had not yet arrived, including the special drinks required in helping to acclimatise. That certainly should not have happened, although it was hardly the managers fault. There had to have been a logistics person in charge of such matters. The gear would eventually arrive the following evening.

                                                                         The second problem arose on the Monday morning when the players arrived at the training pitch. The ground was rock hard! As everyone was only too well aware of the extremely warm weather its almost unbelievable that McCarthy, or some member of the FAI, had not sussed-out the situation beforehand. But nobody had advised the person who took care of the pitch that the team would be training on Monday!

                                                                         The manager was probably to blame for the cock-up, but if anyone was waiting for a member of the FAI to arrange anything relating to the national soccer team they were on a loser. About the only thing any member of that outfit could arrange properly back then was a piss-up! They could manage that even in the middle of the Sahara Desert.

                                                                         On the following morning, Tuesday, the squad was back again at the training ground. The pitch was being watered when they arrived, but only a small section had been treated up to then. Once again no communication between the left and right hands. When training was finished a game was arranged, but there were no goalkeepers available. They had trained earlier with their coach, and had finished for the day!

                                                                          This is when the inevitable burst-up between manager and captain occurred. Mick McCarthy saw the six-day Saipan break as a time for the players to relax, with some light training thrown in for good measure. Roy Keane had a completely different view on the matter, wanting things to be going gung-ho from the very start. And never the twain shall meet! There were things that had not been properly arranged, which should have been, that upset Keane and eventually caused him to boil over.

                                                                           Back at the hotel that afternoon the captain told the manager that he had had enough, and that he was going home! After making sure that that was what the player wanted, they finally shook hands on the matter. Later-on Mick Byrne, the team physio, spoke with Keane and managed to talk him into changing his mind. Out again, in again. By this time McCarthy had phoned home for a replacement player, but the cracks between the two men were papered over and Keane was staying.

                                                                           Training as usual on Wednesday morning, then Roy gave an interview to Tom Humphries of the ‘’Irish Times’’. Not a good idea, to say the very least. If he had wished to speak out, and he obviously did, he should have waited until after the World Cup. By this time word had reached Ireland and elsewhere that there had been a burst-up between himself and the manager, and that he had initially threatened to walk away.

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THE INTERVIEW (Condensed)

                                                                            First-off Keane was questioned about the row, and his wish to leave. ‘’I’ve come over here to do well and I want people around me to want to do well. If I feel we’re not all wanting the same things, there’s no point. It’s been going on a while. Training pitch, travel arrangements, getting through the bloody airport when were were leaving. Flying seventeen hours. The hotel is fine, but we’ve come here to work. You wonder why players get injured? Well, playing on a surface like that I don’t think its too much for us to ask, just for a pitch that’s even watered. Its so dangerous. Its rock hard. One or two of the lads have picked up injuries..........we get here and the skips (containing the team’s training gear and drinks) are missing. This is nor right. All I want is what’s best for me and the team..........I’ve come away to train for the World Cup, not to have barbecues with the press’’. 

T.H. ‘’So what was the final straw then?’’.

R.K. ‘’We’d no goalkeepers for the five-a-side. Their attitude was that the keepers were tired..........We’ve done about three hours work here, three hours work since Nigeria last Thursday. I know its a relaxation but we could be in for a big shock next Saturday (actually Saturday week) against Cameroon’’. Keane had said to goalkeeping coach ‘’Do you want a pat on the back for working hard – is that not why you are here? I did mention that they wouldn’t be too tired to play golf the next day and, fair play, they dragged themselves out’’.

T.H. ‘’And when you came off the training ground and got on the bus on your own, had you decided then to come home?’’.

R.K. ‘’Yeah. I’d had enough. I’m not asking too much – for everyone to want what’s best. (Roy’s brothers were flying out for the tournament.) I had my family to think about, but if it was up to me I wouldn’t still be here. Couldn’t have got a flight until four o’clock Wednesday. Spoke to Alex Ferguson. He told me to stick it out. So I spoke to the manager (Mick McCarthy), and I’ll stick it out till after the World Cup and that will be it for me. The first game is next Saturday (Saturday week). I’ve got some of my family coming out before then to relax with. I do accept I’m on my own. I’ve nobody to bounce things off or have a laugh with. That’s the downside. I need to get my head down for two or three weeks. Get my head down for the country, enjoy it and leave with my head held high’’.

T.H. ‘’Do you know anyone else who gets as intense about football and getting it right?’’.

R.K. ‘’Our manager, Alex Ferguson. Look, I just want what’s best. Realistically, I didn’t expect to come over here and find Highbury or Anfield waiting, but I expected the pitch to be at least watered......All the players feel the same. They react differently. Some people accept it easier. Maybe that’s why some of our players are playing where they are. This will be my last trip. Sometimes you have to take a stance. If there was a flight yesterday I’d be home now and I wouldn’t have felt bad about it. I need people pulling the same way and wanting what’s best......we’re here to prepare for the World Cup’’.

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What is openly apparent from any reading of the interview is that captain Roy Keane wanted some serious hard training while in Saipan. He also stated (not included) that he had no problem with his fellow team-mates enjoying a game of golf and having a drink. But that was the very opposite to what manager Mick McCarthy had planned for, which was golf and a drink, with some training also taking place. A chance for the players to relax following their long season, while they would be training hard for a week following their arrival in Japan and prior to their first game. It was also six days that would help the players to acclimatise.

The different opinions between manager and captain on the use of the six days in Saipan, plus the always present disregard that Keane had for McCarthy, was enough to cause the players decision to leave. While the rock-hard state of the training pitch certainly did not help, could things have been handled better by the FAI, and McCarthy in particular?

Hindsight is a great help in solving previous problems. Could the manager have decided to leave his captain at home to relax for a week, then have him flown out to Japan in time to meet up with the squad? McCarthy was well aware of Keane’s explosive character and isolation within the squad, and that would have helped. But it would not have helped with Roy’s acclimatisation. On the other hand, could one of his brothers or a friend been flown out to Saipan with him for the duration? As he said in the interview ‘’I’m on my own’’. Yes, hindsight is marvelous!

The interview itself was a big mistake. He had decided to stay sometime on Tuesday evening, and when he gave the interview on the following day he was still of that mind, although admitting he would have gone home on Tuesday if there had been a flight that day. Unnecessary information! Then he managed to criticise some of his fellow players because they accepted anything that was not carried out properly. ‘’Maybe that’s why some of our players are playing where they are’’. Completely unnecessary comment! A few years later he criticised some of his Manchester United team-mates, and was immediately let go by Alex Ferguson.

The article appeared in the ‘’Irish Times’’ on the following day (Thursday), and in double quick time its contents were known worldwide, including Saipan. A team-meeting was arranged for 7.30pm, at which McCarthy immediately accused his captain of ‘’going against your team-mates’’. Which was a fair comment. But the manager then went much further ‘’You were supposed to go to Iran and you didn’t, you faked an injury to get out of playing for your country’’.

That particular comment related to a two-match play-off against Iran, home and away, with the overall winner qualifying for the World Cup. Keane had played in the first game which the Republic won 2-0 at Lansdown Road, but he had suffered a knee problem for some time which had resulted in him missing some games for Manchester United. The day following the Iran game his knee was stiff and painful, so he phoned Alex Ferguson to let him know of the situation. Afterwards Alex explained the situation to Mick McCarthy, and both men agreed that the player should return to Manchester for treatment. The result of the return game in Iran was 1-0 to the home side. Ireland were in the World Cup!

Did McCarthy really believe that Keane had pulled a fast one regarding the injury? Who knows! Or did he use it simply as a device to finally get rid of his tempestuous captain? Who knows!

Keane had been carrying a serious hip problem for some months prior to Saipan, which required him to take anti-inflammatory tablets and painkillers before each game for United and Ireland. Before joining the Irish camp his medical advice had been to undergo a hip operation, which would be followed by three months of rehabilitation and have him back playing early in the 2002-03 season. Knowing that every footballer’s wish is to play in the World Cup, Alex Ferguson allowed his player to make up his own mind. Keane decided to postpone the operation. Following Saipan he played for the first few games of the new Premier League season, but then finally and correctly decided to undergo the operation.

After having been accused of faking an injury in order to avoid playing, the meeting then descended into a shouting match which culminated with Keane telling the manager where he could stick the World Cup, and then walking out. The captain had left the building.

Despite some poor arrangements by the FAI and the manager, its also easy to blame Roy Keane for the disaster that ensued in Saipan. Knowing well their captain’s normal disposition, it should also be said that thing’s might have turned out better if a little more foresight had been used. But the player himself did not help matters, and the interview was a complete disaster. If anything needed to be said, and there was a lot, it should have waited until afterwards.

In the end, the squad of players that turned out for the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup of 2002 gave us plenty to cheer about and enjoy. Loosing out to Spain in the quarter-final was hardly a bad result. Not as good as winning the Cup outright, of course, but not bad. Brazil ended up the victors.

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Copyright 2023. Ron Walsh