Former Sunderland manager Roy Keane insists you’re never really sure what a player is like until you work with them – and cited two contrasting former Black Cats players as an example.
Keane worked with a host of players during his two-year spell on Wearside, some relationships far more successful than others. The former Manchester United star says working with those he was already familiar with was preferable, but pointed out that it’s not until you actually sign a player that you truly realise what they are about.
Two players stood out from his time at Sunderland to highlight that – Djibril Cisse and Pascal Chimbonda. The Black Cats signed former Liverpool striker Cisse, known for his fiery on-field personna, on a loan deal from Marseille in 2009, and would go on to score 10 goals for the club in 35 appearances.
French defender Chimbonda arrived from Tottenham in 2008, but while the Guadeloupe-born star had success with Spurs and Wigan Athletic, Keane admits he was not easy to work with.
Sometimes you don’t know a player until he walks into the building,” Keane told Gary Neville’s podcast, Stick to Football. “I’ve made lots of phone calls and people will say, ‘He’s a good lad,’ or ‘I’m not sure’.
I remember when I tried to get Djibril Cisse and everyone said to me that he wasn’t a great lad, but I took a chance, and he was one of the best lads I’ve ever come across. You honestly don’t know a player until he’s walked into the building.
I brought Pascal Chimbonda in when people said to not touch him, but I didn’t listen to them because I thought we needed him, and he had Premier League quality and experience. He came in and was hard work, and I’m being really polite.
“I didn’t listen to people, I thought we needed him. I remember, I left Sunderland and got a phone call from someone on the coaching staff at Spurs, they were thinking of bringing in Chimbonda and he’d already been at there. I said, ‘I wouldn’t be sure.’ Next day, they bought him. Why ring people and get feedback, sometimes you have to take a gamble, and pressure can make bad decisions.”
GET MORE NEWS