The legendary Red Devils coach: The road to success

Chapter 257 Young Keane

"Keane had a hard life when he was young. He had a tough personality and often quarreled and fought with others. He almost always lived at the bottom of society. He suffered a lot in his efforts to become a professional player and encountered various setbacks. He almost lost his goal and hope."

--Inscription

What magic did Roy Keane have that could make the Red Devils and Blackburn Rovers fight to the death? And what magic could make two famous coaches, Dalglish and Ferguson, lose their composure like this?

Roy Keane was a hotshot in the 1992-93 season, as popular as Shearer who had emerged a year earlier, and even more so than Giggs and other young players who had already become the main force of the giants. Football critics all over England praised this new generation of midfielder and believed that he would definitely be a superstar in the future. Whichever team got him, at least the midfield would be worry-free for 10 years!

Roy Keane became so popular in just one season, but this was the result of his accumulated experience. His football journey was actually very bumpy. If it weren't for his deep love and tenacity, Keane's football growth path would have ended in failure long ago.

Roy Keane was born on August 1971, 8 in Mayfield, a northern suburb of Cork, Ireland. He is the fourth of five children in his family. Keane's mother was born into a sports family, which gave little Keane excellent sports genes. Keane's father did not have a stable job, and his mother had to take care of the family, so the family lived in poverty and was in great difficulty. Keane's most profound impression when he was a child was that his family was always short of money. Compared with other families who had cars, villas and all kinds of colorful snacks, his family had nothing.

Although the family was not well-off, Keane's family was still very harmonious. His parents were honest and kind, and his elder brother and sister were very sensible. They took care of the family early on and cared for their younger brother, allowing him to grow up without worries.

Keane has loved sports since he was a child and doesn't like going to school. Keane showed his talent for sports since he was a child and started training in rugby, boxing and football at a very young age. Roy Keane was very fond of boxing when he was a teenager and he boxed at the Brian Dylan Boxing Club. He was only nine years old when he joined the boxing club. The law stipulates that only boxers over 12 years old can participate in formal competitions. Keane has been training hard in the club and is praised as perhaps the best, most powerful and most eager boxer at the time. While participating in boxing training, Keane also played football at the Rockmante Football Club. When Keane was 12 years old, the boxing coach gave him an ultimatum: either boxing or football. Keane finally chose football, and his boxing career ended there.

Many years later, someone asked Keane if he wasted his time by training in boxing. Keane gave a completely different answer. Keane said that boxing helped him become a real athlete. The dodging and punching training in boxing made his body more flexible and made him fearless in the face of physical challenges, fierce punches, and hot fights. Keane became more confident, more proactive, and more aggressive. Boxing was also a great boost for him to join professional football, both physically and mentally. It was for this reason that Keane continued to actively participate in boxing training after joining professional football, which made his reputation even more prominent.

Keane joined the Rockmante Club Youth Football Team, a community club that specializes in training young players. Keane joined at the age of 7 and started playing in the echelon at the age of 9. He was assigned to the under-11 team at the time. Although he was far inferior to others in height and weight, Keane coped with it well. He was smart and flexible, ran fast, accurate, and passed and intercepted very efficiently.

Keane's playing style was revealed at this time. He was like a "warrior", not showing off his skills, not pursuing gorgeousness, not having any fancy tricks, and focusing on the task. Keane knew what to do on the field at a very young age, confronting, intercepting, stealing, winning the ball, receiving, passing, participating in the attack, and finally helping the team win.

Keane is very focused on football, listens carefully to the coach's instructions and arrangements, and remembers the coach's requirements. He has always attached great importance to winning and losing since he was a child, and once he is on the field, he will go all out for victory.

Keane trained hard, played seriously, and performed very well on the court. At the age of 11, he was voted the best player of the year and led the team to win the under-11 league and cup double. It was Keane's emergence that allowed the Rockmante Youth Club to win the league and cup double for six consecutive years in the Irish non-professional system, and also set a legendary record of five seasons without defeat.

Most young players in Ireland dream of playing in England, and Keane is no exception. To play in England, it is not enough to be successful in Cork. The first step to join the youth training camp of the English First Division club is usually to be selected for the Irish Under-15 national team. Keane and his teammates were selected for the local Under-14 team several times, but in the end he did not make the Under-15 national team.

Keane suffered a double blow at the age of 15. First, he failed to pass the high school graduation examination and did not even get a high school diploma. Second, he was not selected for the Irish under-15 national team.

Now, there was only one way to enter the high-level professional league, and that was to apply to various clubs in England. Keane was initially recommended by coach McCarthy to go to Brighton for a trial, but Brighton rejected him because he was too small. Then there were constant setbacks. Keane kept writing letters to different English clubs to recommend himself, hoping to get a trial opportunity, but the replies were disappointing. Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest...almost every English club "ruthlessly" rejected Keane.

Keane became frustrated and had to find odd jobs to make a living, such as moving beer barrels from the warehouse to the store, which was paid only 3 pounds per hour. Keane later worked as a blowtorch to remove acid from metal plates, harvest potatoes, and carry other odd jobs, living a hard life at the bottom of society.

Keane could only join the youth training camp of Cobh Walkers in the second division at that time, and he did not have any salary. Keane had to find some odd jobs to do while training and support himself with a meager income.

Despite the hard times, Keane remained unruly. Although Keane was small, he was very agile, with a very hard fist and was aggressive. He often wandered the streets with a bunch of friends, and often clashed with other street thugs. These conflicts would eventually turn into fights, and always turned into group fights. Keane's toughness and strength were developed through day-to-day fights, and his strong character also attracted attention at this time.

In 1989, the Irish government commissioned the Football Association to open the FAS football course for young people. Each club had one place to sign up. Keane's club youth team coach Eddie gave him this precious opportunity. Not only that, the Cobh Club also promised to sign a professional contract with Keane if he performed well.

In this way, the FAS course changed Keane's fate. After participating in the club's games every Sunday, Keane and his childhood friend Donny had to take the earliest train from Cork to Dublin on Monday. The daily training time was from 10 am to 12 pm and from 2 pm to 4 pm. In the FAS program, whether it was basic training, physical fitness or five-on-five games, the intensity was something Keane had never experienced before, but Keane still completed it very actively.

In the FAS course, Keane and his team can train and compete with the Irish national team of different age groups. Such competitions are always very exciting. Although most of the time the opponents will crush Keane and his team with a big advantage, Keane and his team members participating in FAS are not timid and are full of courage.

The FAS course was very tough. Every time he trained, he had to go out early and come back late. He had to stay away from home. Such days were lonely and difficult, but Keane was very happy. He trained with all his strength and never gave up on his goal. Although the journey from Cork to Dublin was painful, Keane became a semi-professional player for Cobh Wanderers, even if it was only the lowest level of the professional player pyramid. Many years later, Keane was still grateful for the FAS program. At that time, in Ireland, where the unemployment rate was high, countless families were in trouble. Any job with a good income was always enviable. After entering the main lineup of the Rangers, Keane could get about 50 pounds a week. This was already a lot of income, which was a timely help for Keane's family.

During this period, Keane's body also underwent a huge change. He suddenly grew taller and stronger. After his body grew, Keane's understanding of football reached a new level, and he began to stand out quickly in the training camp.

Keane continued to grow, learning and imitating his idol, Bryan Robson from the Red Devils, and quickly enhanced his own strength.

Keane got his first official contract in Cobh Wanderers and started his professional football career. Keane performed well in Cobh Wanderers and was once again appreciated by Nottingham Forest scout Noll, who recommended him to the Forest team for a trial. When Keane arrived in Nottingham, he found that there was no trial. He only trained under the guidance of youth team coach Archie Gomier for a week, and then he was sent back directly. During the whole process, Keane did not meet the team coach Brian Clough, nor did he meet the club's contract official.

Keane was unwilling to believe that the door of fate had closed. He communicated with Forest again through Noll and realized that Forest had made a mistake in the procedure and thought that Keane was recommended to train with the youth team. Keane finally got a formal trial opportunity and played in the match between Forest and Tranmere Row. He tried hard to show his strength and competed with great devotion. He made many crazy flying tackles, which was very impressive.

Keane's performance in the game impressed Forest's legendary coach Brian Clough, who personally approached Cobh Walkers to negotiate the signing of Keane.

In this way, Keane joined Forest for £15,000.

This was an insignificant price for a young player, even though Forest had sent out legendary manager Clough to negotiate, and the Cork club was ecstatic. At that time, Keane thought he was only worth 5000 pounds (refer to the price Ferguson signed Lee Sharpe for, and you will know what a treasure Forest picked up).

Forest signed a three-year contract with Keane, with a weekly salary of 3 pounds and a signing fee of 250 pounds per year, a total of 1500 pounds in three years.

Finally being able to join a top league team, Keane felt like he had won the jackpot. He returned home like a millionaire and couldn't wait to share the good news with his family and friends.

The feeling of having won the jackpot continued. Not long after Keane joined Forest, he was arranged to start in the English League One game.

Keane was totally unprepared, and the coaching staff had not been informed in advance. Everything seemed like an unexpected event. Keane even drank a lot of alcohol the night before leaving for Anfield, and was still drunk when he met up with the team and coach Clough in the morning. Keane had not had time to get familiar with the main players.

And so, Keane began his first performance.

It was August 1990, 8, when Forest played away against Liverpool. The 28-year-old Keane played as the starting main force. His position was right winger, a position he had never played before. Although Forest eventually lost to the opponent 19-0, Keane's performance was very outstanding and eye-catching. Later, in the home game against Southampton, Keane got the chance to start again. He performed well and scored a goal, helping the team win 2-3. The fans gave Keane warm cheers and thunderous applause when he was substituted. After the game, Keane went back to the stadium to say hello to the fans, and coach Brian Clough gave him a big hug to show his appreciation and encouragement.

Keane said, "I was stunned by the great joy and honor. You can feel the fans' love for you, the team's trust in you, and the coach's affirmation of you. This is really exciting and I can't help myself. I can't imagine that I will be treated like this. It's more unrealistic than being in a dream."

In this way, Keane's dream since his youth finally became a reality.