IRELAND MANAGER MARTIN O’Neill admits assistant boss Roy Keane’s criticism was “a bit on the strong side” in the wake of the team’s recent 2-1 friendly loss to Belarus.
Keane joked that he “wanted to kill” some of the players after the disappointing performance, and added that some of them were “lucky” to have made the 23-man squad for Euro 2016 following the dismal display.
The Corkonian also singled out Aiden McGeady for criticism. Of his Belarus performance, the Man United legend said: “Aiden can do a lot better… that’s the story of his career.”
Furthermore, the assistant manager said “you can tell” when a reporter mentioned that Daryl Murphy and Jeff Hendrick had not had the benefit of much game time with their clubs recently.
The reaction to Keane’s comments has varied. Ireland winger James McClean defended the remarks, saying they were “spot on,” while ex-Ireland international Kevin Kilbane was less impressed, claiming the 44-year-old former player was “bang out of order” to criticise individuals.
Keane himself has since claimed certain comments were intended to be “tongue in cheek” though O’Neill today acknowledged that his assistant’s words were “slightly on the strong side”.
And while O’Neill also admitted that the team “didn’t do brilliantly” in their most recent friendly at Turner’s Cross, he also defended the lacklustre display to a degree, pointing out that a number of those involved were lacking game time and suggested positives could be drawn from the encounter.
We didn’t do that brilliantly in the first half against Belarus. Some of the players were in need of football. For Daryl Murphy, that was the first (bit of) competitive football he’d played for quite some time. Jeff Hendrick hasn’t had an awful lot in recent weeks, but more than Daryl. The same would apply to (David) Meyler.
“From that viewpoint, just to get some football under their belts, it was very good.”
He continued: “James McClean made some comment or other… The players’ reaction has been very strong
“Players were just a wee bit rusty (against Belarus). That’s absolutely fine. We expected decent opposition, which we got. It was a godsend to play the game
The players, and I’m going back two years, their attitude has been very strong and very positive. Any pieces of criticism either from myself or from Roy or any other direction, they take it on board. They’ll feel it’s appropriate, if it is appropriate, or dismiss it accordingly.
“I think Roy’s already had a word with (Aiden McGeady). I think Roy’s words, he said himself, were slightly on the strong side.
“The other players involved with it are absolutely fine.”
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