Republic of Ireland manager Brian Kerr has dismissed a newspaper report suggesting a fall out between himself and star midfielder Roy Keane as "completely and utterly ridiculous and laughable".
The Evening Herald report suggests Keane and Kerr had "an angry bust-up" over striker Robbie Keane's late-night socialising since arriving in Dublin on Friday ahead of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against France.
The report claims the Manchester United captain warned his manager over the "wisdom" of bringing his players to Dublin too early. It goes on to suggest that boredom among the squad would lead to "temptation".
Robbie Keane was photographed outside a Dublin nightclub over the weekend.
But Kerr this afternoon said the story "contradicts itself" as the unnamed source in the report said they were "not sure how Roy reacted to stories of late-night drinking but I can't imagine that he was happy."
Kerr said: "So the unnamed source didn't even know how Roy thought, how contradictory can you get?"
Kerr denied arguing with Roy Keane over the matter and said if anyone believed there was "a problem" to ask the player himself.
"There is absolutely no truth whatsoever that I had a bust-up with Roy or, indeed, any of the other players. I've said frequently in the past that I don't do bust-ups with players.
"I have a professional relationship with Roy as I do all my players. We discuss things openly and the players give their point of view if they have one. In this situation there wasn't one."
Kerr discussed the matter with his star midfielder when given a copy of the report and alluded to the fact that the player was less than best pleased.
"I won't tell you the words he used," said Kerr, "as they're not fit for family viewing. It is a laughable story. Completely and utterly ridiculous."
happy to see it was all a load of bull, but more to the point should our players be out that late so close to a big game? the N.Ireland though differently about his own squad.
Kerr discussed the matter with his star midfielder when given a copy of the report and alluded to the fact that the player was less than best pleased.
"I won't tell you the words he used," said Kerr, "as they're not fit for family viewing. It is a laughable story. Completely and utterly ridiculous."
At the end a da day....they can stick it up their bollix......
If it was any other paper i may have believed it but the moment i heard it was the herald i knew like the whole country it was pure lies.
Also if Robbie doesnt play up to scratch on wednesday his Irish career would be finished after friday nights shananagans.Personal ly I'd be in favour of sending him and any other player who were off galavanting at the weekend to be sent back to their teams.But of course we're Irish we do nothing professional and some players are bigger than the team.
The Irish media seems to becoming more and more like the English media everyday. This is the kind of thing I would expect to see in the English papers. They love to throw spanners in the works during international match preparations.
This is disgraceful ahead of such an important game. Kerr handled it very well.
Report of Keane row 'laughable' – Kerr
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