McCarthy reveals Keane talks
 FORMER Irish football
manager Mick McCarthy has revealed he and Roy Keane have buried the hatchet
following their infamous bust-up ahead of the 2002 World Cup.
The row led to Keane missing the tournament in Japan and South Korea and
also famously divided the country.
The Corkman is now manager of Sunderland while McCarthy is in charge of
Championship rivals Wolves.
Speaking ahead of the upcoming meeting between the two clubs McCarthy
says he recently made contact with Keane while inquiring about Sunderland’s
Neil Collins and the pair put their differences behind them.
He said: “It is the first time we’ve spoken for four years
— we’ve not been in regular contact with e-mails and cards
and phone calls.
“Professionally I wanted to speak to Sunderland about some players
and I’ve never asked anybody else to do it.
“To be fair to Roy, he’s a manager now and I always speak
to the manager so I picked the phone up and rang him.
“We had a very cordial chat. I think it’s about time four
years on that things were put to bed. We both felt it was the right time
to talk and it was a cordial conversation.
“We chatted about the players and a couple of other things that
will remain private. It’s been four years now and it should be put
to bed.
“I asked him about players and that’s the way it should be
done. At the end of it we are professionals, and managers, and there’s
only 92 of us.
“It’s the media that drives it on and we’ve both got
difficult enough jobs without others putting spanners in it. The only
two people who weren’t getting anything out of it were me and Roy.
Life goes on.”
The two managers come face to face when Wolves face Sunderland at Molineux
on November 24.
McCarthy’s Wolves side are currently sixth in the Championship after
beating Southend at the weekend, but Keane is struggling at Sunderland
with the Black Cats a miserable 17th having won just six games all season.
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