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Pacman to the point

Keane hasn't lost any of the common sense he had as a player

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Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco on why Roy Keane is a credit to himself and why Joey Barton isn't...

"I'm not bothered by a tackle that is slightly high. These things happen in derby games. You give and take. If you hadn't mentioned it to me, I wouldn't have remembered it."

That was Roy Keane speaking about Joey Barton's horror tackle on Dickson Etuhu during Saturday's match as Newcastle grabbed a fortunate point at the Stadium of Light. This was the latest in a series of unsavoury incidents from an offender who continues to share with El Hadji Diouf the most unwanted of tags as the worst role model amongst Premiership players. Joey Barton is a fine player and a surprisingly articulate one when talking into the microphone but someone has to clamp down on him in the harshest possible way for his own good as much as someone else's.

When I first heard Roy Keane's comments I was surprised by them, given that his player could have been seriously injured and that a deserved sending-off to Barton could well have tipped the balance in Sunderland's favour and led to a crucial three points. But in the cold light of day, I'm not surprised by them at all.

I rate Roy Keane as the most influential midfielder to have ever played in the Premiership. We know all about his leadership, crucial goals in big matches and the relentless engine on him. But Roy Keane primarily made his reputation as one of the most fearless, uncompromising and feared tacklers to have ever played the game. During his glittering Man Utd career the former Republic of Ireland captain was involved in a series of classic encounters against bitter rivals (Patrick Vieira in particular springs to mind, so does Alf-Inge Haland) and was sent off on no fewer than 11 occasions.

In other words, Keane knows that derby matches are not affairs for the faint-hearted, you give as good as you get, worry about your bruises and cuts the next morning and that if you're not cut out for it, you should take up golf. For Roy Keane to have condemned Barton would have been nothing short of hypocrisy and the Sunderland boss has never been guilty of that. When he lambasted Ireland's training methods and facilities at the 2002 World Cup, it was simply because he believed that by being below par his side simply weren't giving themselves the best chance of being successful. When he criticised his Man Utd teammates for lacking hunger and desire, this was coming from a man who had these two qualities in abundance and who was disappointed that others didn't.

On any of the occasions in which Keano saw red, I don't remember him once arguing with the ref about it or delaying his exit from the field of play. He just got on with it because he always accepted that refs are in charge of the game, not players. If Martin Atkinson didn't see it and punish Barton then that's life and you just move on.

I fear for Sunderland' survival chances for the simple reason that I think they lack real quality in their squad and I'd rather be backing than laying them for the drop at 4.3. Craig Gordon is a top keeper and I've been extremely impressed with Kenwyne Jones, who I consider to be one of the top three headers of the ball in the Premiership alongside John Terry and Mido. Dean Whitehead is a decent player who they have missed badly since being injured but they're struggling after that: Ian Harte, Higginbotham, Carlos Edwards and Paul McShane are just a few examples of players not good enough to compete with the best the league has to offer, try as they might.

If there's one thing Sunderland have going for them is the spirit that Keane has installed within the squad, just like he did as a player. And by dismissing Barton's tackle as "much ado about nothing" he was sending a clear message: we're here for a scrap, one of your players might be on the receiving end of a similar tackle next time and if we go down, we're going down fighting. And that very attitude may well be the difference between them staying up or going down.

To read more about Roy Keane go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Keane