A flawed player, a weak manager and an empty feeling

It is the saddest week in Irish sporting history since Liam Whelan was killed at Munich in 1958. Of course, as he said, nobody has died, but Roy Keane has been deprived of the opportunity to show, in Sir Alex Ferguson's words, that he is "the most influential player in the world". He would have done it too, if his own personality problems and the inadequacies of Mick McCarthy as an international manager had not forced him out.

When McCarthy called a team meeting to discuss Keane's interview with the Irish Times, it was like Jack Charlton sitting down in a pub with Paul McGrath to discuss his disappearances. There was no chance that a "clear-the-air" meeting was ever going to be met with anything but a frank response. Keane immediately crossed the line into vulgar abuse, with devastating consequences.

Yet there is an injustice at the heart of it. Keane was invited to give his opinion and then, when he did, was kicked out for it. McCarthy called on Keane to explain his actions when he withdrew from the squad, then didn't like them. Keane's behaviour at the team meeting was contemptuous but mixed in with the swearing were deep-rooted criticisms of McCarthy's ability as a manager.

These diatribes have some merit and the FAI and McCarthy have not done enough to ensure that the standards for an international team have been met. The nation, preparing for another binge of "we are greatism", does not want to hear this. It spoils the fun. But it wants Keane on the pitch next Saturday. You are then demanding half the man and there has never been that option with Roy Keane.

It is not always the right way. Keane has revealed startlingly a sense of persecution that he shares with his club manager. The siege mentality encouraged by Ferguson may not always be the best option for a player hotfooting from demons as Keane always is. The idea that he is always portrayed as the wrongdoer, as he seems to believe, is also incorrect. There has been very little criticism of Keane in Ireland (at least until this week), especially compared to what McCarthy has endured. But that is not comparing like with like. Keane sets himself impossible standards and demands they are met by him and everybody else. It doesn't seem like a happy life, no matter how successful.

In Britain, he is the victim of a bandwagon of anti-Manchester United sentiment. But this is to miss the point. Forgetting about Manchester United, can anybody imagine Gérard Houllier or Arsène Wenger settling for the facilities Ireland had in Saipan last week? There is an obsession with details among all the best managers that is absent in McCarthy.

It has been said that the trip to Saipan was never intended as a hard training session and Keane misunderstood its purpose. It was a wind-down after a long, hard season. But who had a harder season than Keane?

A week before the World Cup is no time to be winding down. If Ireland wanted a holiday they should have left after Niall Quinn's testimonial. Keane, in consultation with McCarthy, could have brought his family or he could have opted out. It would not have been a problem – if United had made the European Cup final he wouldn't have been in Saipan anyway. The absence could have been easily explained – he was the only player in the Irish squad who played in the Champions' League last year.

These are the things that matter – not the name of the fixture on the shirt or teaching the team the national anthem, gimmicks of McCarthy's which he hoped would add more pride. If they are important, how beneficial are top facilities?

McCarthy cuts a comic figure – bewildered, prickly and faux aggressive. He will be supported by the squad, but Keane is no more popular among the players at Old Trafford. There, however, he has the undying admiration of Ferguson for the performances he has delivered when it has most mattered.

That is what Keane did for Ireland too; and it is why he cannot be replaced adequately. A better manager would have realised this instead of forcing a battle of wills. McCarthy is entitled to ask for respect from his players, but must earn it too. Nothing changed about flight arrangements for the Irish team until Keane complained. Did McCarthy say nothing or do they just not listen to him?

But for McCarthy, the PR battle is being won. Without Keane he would not, literally, be where he is today. Keane, on the other hand, who did more than any man could be expected to do in getting Ireland to the World Cup, is discarded.

Most importantly, a great player is gone. There will be no more assaults on the senses of teams who thought they could underestimate the Irish and would have been right were it not for Roy Keane. There will be no more Portugals shaking their heads at how one man (just one?) could dominate a game with one of the best sides in Europe; no more Maradonas sitting in the stand and announcing that the Irishman terrorising Spain is one of the most outstanding midfielders in the game. No more. We are on the brink of the greatest sporting occasion in the world, but it will take place without one of its greatest players. Ever get the feeling you've been conned?