Keane on derby defeat: "Cheap goals cost us."
Another week, another game, but same old story from Roy Keane who once again was left to talk about poor starts and cheap goals.
The Sunderland manager has been bemoaning them for weeks now, but it has proved one thing to identify the problem and quite another to solve it.
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"I'm disappointed with the way we started the game and disappointed we couldn't get into half-time just 1-0 down," he said after yesterday's 2-0 derby defeat at Newcastle.
"At this level we can't afford to give the goals away that we gave away.
"We made it very hard for ourselves – particularly with the second goal just before half-time – and what we need to do is stop gifting teams goals.
"We can't keep doing that.
"Newcastle will look at their first goal as a good goal, but, from our point of view, we have only ourselves to blame."
There were no arguments there.
Sunderland produced as unconvincing a display as they'd produced all season.
That was bad enough as it was, against a side who were no great shakes.
But in the derby of all games. Inexcusable.
And what will hurt Sunderland fans as much as the fact that they lost, is the fact that so few Black Cats players really put their limbs on the line, really played as though this was the FA Cup final that every single one of their fans regarded it as.
Yet, despite all the evidence to the contrary, Keane suggested that somehow his players really understood what the derby meant.
"My players understood how important the game was," he insisted. "I'm not going to question my team's desire, it's just that we just gave away bad goals.
"The second half, it would have nice if we could have scored one to make it interesting, but it wasn't to be."
And the rest, was just words.
Keane added: "We've got a lot of hard work ahead to do and that hasn't changed.
"It makes next weekend that more important. I know the players will be disappointed, but we have to bounce back.
"We've had a major setback today and we have to get back next weekend.
"We just didn't do enough. We were nearly there but not quite. It's a team game. You win together, you suffer together,
"The three games we won, we didn't play particularly well, it just happened that we put the ball in the back of the net in those matches. So I was never carried away by those results. And we're not over the finishing line yet, far from it.
"The injuries didn't help.
"We lost three players in the two days before the game – Rade Prica was also injured as well as Jonny Evans and Phil Bardsley – but you can't make excuses.
"We thought that the team we put out against Newcastle should have been good enough to win the game, but we gave the ball away cheaply for both goals and you get punished.
"Liam Miller has trained well and that's why we thought he deserved his chance.
"The truth is I can't fault the players who have been left out."
Roy Keane has rarely sounded unconvincing this season. But he did after this game.
All we can hope is that perhaps he was biting his tongue for fear of what he might have said.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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