Clarke Critical Of Keane's Management Style At Sunderland

Sunderland's Clive Clarke, who is battling to return to football after suffering a heart-attack while on-loan to Leicester in an early-season game at Nottingham Forest, has questioned manager Roy Keane's ability to coax the best out of his players.

Sunderland are struggling in the Premier League and were comprehensively beaten by Wigan at home in the FA Cup at the weekend, a performance that attracted derision from many Black Cats' fans - the first show of dissent during Keane's reign.

But while the team is stuck in the relegation mire, Keane's ability to encourage, motivate and inspire his players is being severely tested. And, according to Clarke, found wanting.

In a story picked up by the Daily Telegraph, Clarke told the Sunday Independent that Keane's calm demeanour on the touchline and in front of the media - even when philosophically commenting on a defeat - is a facade for public consumption.

Behind the scenes, alleges Clarke, Keane struggles to accept players' performance standards dipping below those he imposed on himself and his team-mates when he captained Manchester United so successfully.

And Clarke claims Keane is refusing to speak to the players as Sunderland's form flags.

"I spoke to him a couple of times at the club and he rang me when it [the heart-attack] happened which was nice of him, but we're not very pally so there's no real reason to speak to one another," Clarke told the Sunday Independent.

"I probably speak to him more than the players who train there every day even now. He's going around booting chairs and throwing things. He's never going to give you confidence, he doesn't talk to lads.

"If the lads at Man United couldn't reach the standards he wanted, and they're some of the best players in the world, then it's going to be a lot harder for the lads at Sunderland to reach them."

After Sunderland lost 3-0 at home to Wigan in the FA Cup on Saturday, some Sunderland fans harangued Keane, telling him he should be ashamed of his team's performance.

Keane replied that he was ashamed, and that he could fully understand the fans' point of view.

Presumably the post-match atmosphere in the Sunderland dressing-room was somewhat tense...