Roy Keane – Celtic

Keane signed his deal on Thursday which will take him to 2007 and he is really looking forward to beginning his life as a Celtic player.

“It is a great move for me, I have taken my time but everything is now done – it is a good day,” Keane explained, “I am looking forward to the challenge.”

He explained that he had talked with a number of interested parties since his departure from Manchester United last month and that included Spanish giants Real Madrid.

“There has been a lot of speculation in the last few weeks and I have spoken to a lot of clubs,” he confirmed.

“I spoke to Madrid on Tuesday and they told me it may be another week away, but as I said I gave every club a chance and having spoken to the manager I felt this was the club for me and I gave the go ahead yesterday morning.

“Walking around the club I feel comfortable and think this is where I belong.”

Keane insisted the pressure at Celtic would be just as intense as it was at Old Trafford.

“They are both massive clubs and that is the challenge, there is pressure to win football matches – that is a pressure I enjoy,” he opined.

“I wanted a new challenge, different environment and staff.

“I spoke to one or two Premiership managers, but as I said I thought this was the best move for me.

“I have been here a few times and I have always enjoyed watching them and they are seeking to improve and want to do well in Europe and I have come up here to win football matches and help the squad.

“I feel I can help the club move on to the next level and win trophies, I am not in the game to be popular.

“You always need a big squad and the players who are at Celtic have done well. I am under no illusions I will come here and walk into the team, I want to train hard and give the manager a problem.”

Keane admitted he wanted to quit English football.

“I have proved myself in The Premiership and now was right for a new challenge,” he said.

“It would have been easy for me to stay in England, but this was a challenge I wanted.

“I thought it was right I spoke to a few clubs and I thought it was a good idea, but it turned out I liked most of them and could have played for any of them.

“I spoke with Bryan Robson and he is a player I have great respect for but you can’t please everybody – this decision was for me.

“I have been speaking to four or five clubs over the last few weeks and Michael was speaking to Madrid last week, but I said it was important I spoke to somebody and I talked with Mr Butragueno (Emilio, Real’s sporting director) last week but they said they couldn’t make a decision until next week – and I think I had to be fair to the other clubs and I wasn’t prepared to wait another week.

“Over the weekend I decided it had to be Monday or Tuesday and I don’t doubt I have made the right decision.”

Keane quipped about his future relationship with his new team-mates.

“I am sure they will love me,” he joked, “I like to work hard and I would never ask a team-mate to do something I wouldn’t.

“I know the fans will judge me on what I do on the football pitch. I am all about the team and that comes first, the captaincy doesn’t bother me one bit.

“I hope the fans are happy, I know I am. I am not looking to unwind, I am here for a new challenge.

“People think I am 94, but I am not, I am 34.

“I am hoping to surprise a few people, the role I had at United was important – sitting in front of the back four and I might get more licence to go forward up here.

“I am here to win matches and trophies – there is no other reason to play.”

Keane feels Celtic will probably be his last club, adding: “I would have thought so, the contract is for the season and next and for football you can’t get ahead of yourself.”

The Irish legend insists that a coaching role was not something he was looking at.

“Coaching is further down the road for me,” he said.

“You have to be focused on your playing at this level and that is a long way down the line for me hopefully.”

Keane did not speak too much about United but stressed that he and Sir Alex Ferguson parted on good terms.

“I was very lucky and the manager was great,” he revealed.

“It was very amicable and we shook hands and wished each other well and I wish everyone at United well.

“I had been convinced I would finish my career at United, up until last year – but things change in football.”

Thank u Soulie. :wink:

That u ok for you G?

I meant that weve got a better competition this year.
I can name 4 clubs who’ve won the Scottish League in the past 30 years. There’s been 9 clubs who’ve won the English League in the same period.

Thats to b totally expected though considering England’s population of 50 million compared to Scotland’s 5 million. Likewise with facilities etc.
You cant compare a country of England’s size with a country of Scotland’s size. That would b ridicolous.
Name me another league in the world with a poplulation comparable to Scotland’s though and I bet our league’s better than their’s.

@Bad Manners wrote:

It dosent matter if he’s 34. He’s a fit guy. Romario’s just finished top scorer in the Brazilian First Division at 39.
One look at the clubs who expressed an intrest in him tell’s it’s own story. Real Madrid, Juventus, Inter etc.
If he’s so shi.t name me one Newcastle midfielder who could lace his boots even at 34.
N’Zogbia? Bowyer? Solano? lol. =;

ID RATHER HAVE NOBBY THAN KEANE ANYDAY

@geoff wrote:

Ok just checked populations and 5 million is correct, however I go back to what I said, competition is relative to the pop.

Dont b ridicolous. Look at past World Cup winners and you’ll find countries with large populations. You wont find Scotland, Sweden or Iceland on the past winners list, because they are small countries.

Look at the mpst successful English league teams and you’ll find they are the teams with large attendances or clubs who are in large cities.

The USSR and indeed USA or China havent ruled football simply because of participation levels in soccer. In 10-15 years team with their higher paticipation levels the USA will win the World Cup

I’ll ignore the Netherlands and Belguim part since you admitted after u wrote it that you mixed up Scotland’s population. Even then if you loook at Holland it’s a 3 team league instead of Scotland’s 2 simply because they are slightly larger. The Scottish league isnt as competitive simply because Celtic and Rangers are so huge. Not because of any failure on other teams parts.