Post by QPR Report on Apr 23, 2009 11:21:36 GMT
According to
Tractor boys ideal club for Roy's return
Ipswich will suit Keane style but he'll have to heed harsh lessons learned at Black Cats
Herald.ie Paul Hyland
Thursday April 23 2009
THERE can be no doubt that Roy Keane has zero interest in the global brand placement of the marcus evans Group. But he sticks close to wealthy men when it comes to football management and one billionaire is often a lot better than another.
"The marcus evans Group has experienced great success over the last few years, consistently increasing its global reach year on year and Ipswich Town FC has similar ambitions to establish itself as a globally recognised brand against the background of long term success in the English Premiership. The wide media coverage that will come with this success and which football attracts provides a new platform to present the company and the club to an international audience and further strengthen the marcus evans Group as a trusted global brand."
-- marcus evans corporate website
You won't find proof anywhere that Marcuc Evans is, in fact, a billionaire, but he's been making money from a young age and plenty of it.
He doesn't use capital letters for his name when it's written on his company notepaper, perhaps to underline the fact that he is of a breed of rich and powerful men who prefer to remain below the radar.
Most people will never have heard of Evans, who owns a raft of companies based in Bermuda, and according to the company website "employs more than 3,500 people in more than 36 countries around the globe delivering intelligence and business products across a full range of commercial sectors, including capital markets, life sciences, defence, healthcare, information technology and legal".
His most public action to date, other than investing in Ipswich and now hiring Keane, occurred during Wimbledon fortnight in 1987 when he made some headlines by selling cheeky champagne lunches and strawberries and cream from the garden of his house in Somerset Road.
He made an abortive bid to buy the Daily Mirror in 2004 and again in 2006 but, other than that, very little is known about him.
Perhaps it was this wish for anonymity and lack of showbiz that appealed to Keane when he chose Ipswich over QPR to relaunch his career as a gaffer.
The idea that Keane's personality and approach to management would sit well in Loftus Road with the flamboyant, hands-on style of Flavio Briatore and his flock of pet billionaires at QPR never quite rang true, but the offer was serious and the Corkman showed some interest.
A big bankroll is one thing, but a big ego to go with it doesn't make for an easy partnership. In those terms, choosing Ipswich was a no-brainer once Keane decided that he would be happy to take on another Championship club instead of hanging around until the usual cull of bottom-rung Premier League team managers.
Evans is obviously an ambitious man and we can only assume that he has given Keane the type of guarantees about funding that will allow a raid on the transfer market this summer.
A broom has been swept through Portman Road in readiness for the new man. Just a day after he was appointed CEO, Simon Clegg handed Jim Magilton, a hugely popular figure in Ipswich, his cards triggering a flood of betting on Glenn Hoddle.
Easy money for the bookmakers as ever. Most punters were still watching for developments at Loftus Road when the price started to fall on Keane for Ipswich and by the time the news hardened, it wasn't worth a bet.
"The process to find a replacement is under way and we are closing in on making an appointment.
"We hope to make an announcement in the near future but I can offer no timescale," Clegg said last night.
"We are close to making an appointment. If we can get someone in before the end of the season that would have its benefits. We want a winner."
Doesn't everyone? Clegg and Evans have certainly found a man with a winning mentality in Keane, but the Sunderland experiences raised as many questions as answers about his ability to manage men.
Does he have the ability to commit himself to the job in the same obsessive way that Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger live their lives? Can he come to terms with the fact that modern day professional footballers have a different code of practice than he had?
In fact, many of the questions that were posed when he was first appointed by Sunderland still apply.
Perhaps it will be easier to buy a squad capable of winning promotion to the Premier League than it was to buy one to stay in it but based on his record so far, he has a lot to learn about talent spotting.
SUFFOCATED
In the aftermath of his exit from Sunderland, several players spoke about how suffocated they felt when Keane was the boss and Ricky Sbragia made a play for the popular vote when he explained that his mission was the bring some fun back into their lives.
It worked briefly, but Sunderland are once again teetering on the brink and it seems clear that it wasn't so much Keane's overbearing personality that was the problem. The players he bought simply aren't good enough.
Another subject that was raised as an issue, apparently by Ellis Short, was Keane's decision to live at a distance from the Stadium of Light -- in fact, 140 miles away.
This time, Keane won't make the same mistake. This is a good time to be buying property and an urgent search along the Suffolk coast is probably under way right now.
Keane is known to pay much heed to the traditions of football and in Ipswich, he has found a club with a decent pedigree, based on stylish football and a man who owns it who has deep pockets.
- Paul Hyland
www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/tractor-boys-ideal-club-for-roys-return-1717258.html
Tractor boys ideal club for Roy's return
Ipswich will suit Keane style but he'll have to heed harsh lessons learned at Black Cats
Herald.ie Paul Hyland
Thursday April 23 2009
THERE can be no doubt that Roy Keane has zero interest in the global brand placement of the marcus evans Group. But he sticks close to wealthy men when it comes to football management and one billionaire is often a lot better than another.
"The marcus evans Group has experienced great success over the last few years, consistently increasing its global reach year on year and Ipswich Town FC has similar ambitions to establish itself as a globally recognised brand against the background of long term success in the English Premiership. The wide media coverage that will come with this success and which football attracts provides a new platform to present the company and the club to an international audience and further strengthen the marcus evans Group as a trusted global brand."
-- marcus evans corporate website
You won't find proof anywhere that Marcuc Evans is, in fact, a billionaire, but he's been making money from a young age and plenty of it.
He doesn't use capital letters for his name when it's written on his company notepaper, perhaps to underline the fact that he is of a breed of rich and powerful men who prefer to remain below the radar.
Most people will never have heard of Evans, who owns a raft of companies based in Bermuda, and according to the company website "employs more than 3,500 people in more than 36 countries around the globe delivering intelligence and business products across a full range of commercial sectors, including capital markets, life sciences, defence, healthcare, information technology and legal".
His most public action to date, other than investing in Ipswich and now hiring Keane, occurred during Wimbledon fortnight in 1987 when he made some headlines by selling cheeky champagne lunches and strawberries and cream from the garden of his house in Somerset Road.
He made an abortive bid to buy the Daily Mirror in 2004 and again in 2006 but, other than that, very little is known about him.
Perhaps it was this wish for anonymity and lack of showbiz that appealed to Keane when he chose Ipswich over QPR to relaunch his career as a gaffer.
The idea that Keane's personality and approach to management would sit well in Loftus Road with the flamboyant, hands-on style of Flavio Briatore and his flock of pet billionaires at QPR never quite rang true, but the offer was serious and the Corkman showed some interest.
A big bankroll is one thing, but a big ego to go with it doesn't make for an easy partnership. In those terms, choosing Ipswich was a no-brainer once Keane decided that he would be happy to take on another Championship club instead of hanging around until the usual cull of bottom-rung Premier League team managers.
Evans is obviously an ambitious man and we can only assume that he has given Keane the type of guarantees about funding that will allow a raid on the transfer market this summer.
A broom has been swept through Portman Road in readiness for the new man. Just a day after he was appointed CEO, Simon Clegg handed Jim Magilton, a hugely popular figure in Ipswich, his cards triggering a flood of betting on Glenn Hoddle.
Easy money for the bookmakers as ever. Most punters were still watching for developments at Loftus Road when the price started to fall on Keane for Ipswich and by the time the news hardened, it wasn't worth a bet.
"The process to find a replacement is under way and we are closing in on making an appointment.
"We hope to make an announcement in the near future but I can offer no timescale," Clegg said last night.
"We are close to making an appointment. If we can get someone in before the end of the season that would have its benefits. We want a winner."
Doesn't everyone? Clegg and Evans have certainly found a man with a winning mentality in Keane, but the Sunderland experiences raised as many questions as answers about his ability to manage men.
Does he have the ability to commit himself to the job in the same obsessive way that Alex Ferguson or Arsene Wenger live their lives? Can he come to terms with the fact that modern day professional footballers have a different code of practice than he had?
In fact, many of the questions that were posed when he was first appointed by Sunderland still apply.
Perhaps it will be easier to buy a squad capable of winning promotion to the Premier League than it was to buy one to stay in it but based on his record so far, he has a lot to learn about talent spotting.
SUFFOCATED
In the aftermath of his exit from Sunderland, several players spoke about how suffocated they felt when Keane was the boss and Ricky Sbragia made a play for the popular vote when he explained that his mission was the bring some fun back into their lives.
It worked briefly, but Sunderland are once again teetering on the brink and it seems clear that it wasn't so much Keane's overbearing personality that was the problem. The players he bought simply aren't good enough.
Another subject that was raised as an issue, apparently by Ellis Short, was Keane's decision to live at a distance from the Stadium of Light -- in fact, 140 miles away.
This time, Keane won't make the same mistake. This is a good time to be buying property and an urgent search along the Suffolk coast is probably under way right now.
Keane is known to pay much heed to the traditions of football and in Ipswich, he has found a club with a decent pedigree, based on stylish football and a man who owns it who has deep pockets.
- Paul Hyland
www.herald.ie/sport/soccer/tractor-boys-ideal-club-for-roys-return-1717258.html