On This Day (10 May 2008): Aiden McGeady linked as Roy Keane declares, 'I want to be excited!'

10/05/2024 07:00

Roy Keane was targeting British-based players with his estimated £45m summer transfer budget.

Aiden McGeady was one of the names at the top of Roy Keane's summer shopping list, with the Sunderland boss already making plans for strengthening the team ahead of his second Premier League season at the Stadium of Light.

Keane had been well backed by Drumaville in his first campaign – spending more than £44m on 15 players, including £9m on goalkeeper Craig Gordon – however, Sunderland had made hard work of staying up, with a late run sealing survival thanks to a late 3-2 win over Middlesbrough, in the third last game of the season.

Ahead of the season's finale against Arsenal, Keane spoke about his plans for the summer, with a rumoured £45m at his disposal.

The priority will be getting players who can take us to the next level, not with a fancy name or someone with long hair. We want to excite the fans, but I need exciting. I want to be excited.

Sunderland is an attraction, that hasn't wavered. We have to pay the money. A lot of the deals were straightforward. The players you want are the ones who clubs don't want to leave. We had to do that with Craig Gordon. No sometimes means yes.

Keane had said he was 'satisfied, not delighted' with staying up, and was aiming for at least 'happy' in 12 months time.

To stay in the Premier League has been progress, but this is my first year and I learned a hell of a lot. I know what's required to be a decent Premier League team. For all our faults, we're not far away from being able to compete.

I want to be happy next year.

What would be a satisfying finish next season? That would depend on players we bring in. Ask me pre-season.

As a manager I have no intention of being in a relegation dogfight every year. That's not why I'm here, I appreciate I'm learning, need to bring in quality players.

I haven't spent silly money. What we spent last year was a lot of money, but on a lot of players. This summer it will be a lot of money, but on less players.

The players I want are a mixed bag, but the ones we're hoping to bring in, and hope is a big word, are mainly based on this island. Not many. Not as many as ten, more than five.

One of the names heavily linked was Celtic's Aiden McGeady, with the Irish winger rumoured to be in line for a £10m move to the Stadium of Light.

Keane believed McGeady was the type of player capable of helping to turn Sunderland into a top-six team,

The 22-year-old had been a regular at Parkhead for four seasons and was seen as having the talent and the potential to be a good addition for a side that had lacked that X factor the season before.

Of course, it would be much later when McGeady would arrive at the Stadium of Light, and he stayed at Celtic for another couple of seasons before making what was – on paper at least – a strange move to Spartak Moscow.

Sunderland's revolving door of players did continue that summer, however, and British based players featured heavily. In fact, Teemu Tainio, Steed Malbranque, Pascal Chimbonda, Anton Ferdinand, George McCartney, El Hadji Diouf, and David Healey were all with other English clubs, with only Djibril Cisse – on loan from Marseille – from overseas, although he had decent Premier League experience with Liverpool.

Whether the new signings excited Keane or not is another matter all together, and I'm sure in hindsight he wished some had said no.

While Malbranque and Ferdinand did well for the club over a few seasons, and Cisse certainly made a short-term impact – the others failed pretty miserably. McCartney acted like his wife and kids had been taken hostage to force his move back, Tainio was permanently crocked, Pascal Chimbonda was, well, Pascal Chimbonda and David Healey was, well, David Healey. And Diouf threatened to knife Anton Ferdinand in the dressing room after a game.

It's never dull.

By that point, of course, Keane had gone. After starting the season with some promise, the wheels fell off a bit – and, while the 4-1 home defeat to Bolton was rather disastrous, few saw Keane's departure coming.

It had coincided with Ellis Short taking a larger stake in the club, and fell out with Keane, who presumably told him to stick it up his bollocks.

In hindsight, in a battle of wills, we'd have been far better off had Keane won that one.