FOOTBALL: KEANE IS A BORN LEADER, HE IS THE NATURAL CHOICE TO FOLLOW SIR ALEX SAYS RUUD VAN NISTELROOY
RUUD Van Nistelrooy believes Manchester United should abandon their worldwide search to find a long-term successor to Sir Alex Ferguson and offer the job to club captain Roy Keane.
The Dutch striker claims Keane has all the qualities needed to succeed Ferguson and the drive and respect to maintain success at Old Trafford.
In one of the frankest interviews of his career Van Nistelrooy lifts the lid on life at United.
He reveals that homesickness almost wrecked his Old Trafford career, how David Beckham gets embarrassed by his celebrity lifestyle, how United players are allowed to play cards for money, and how he struggles to come to terms with the fabulous wealth that goes hand in hand with playing for the world's biggest clubs.
On the field Keane is already established as one of the best leaders of his generation and, while controversy is rarely two paces behind the Irishman, Van Nistelrooy believes there is no one better qualified to replace Ferguson when he eventually retires.
He said: "Nobody else has more qualities for the manager's job than Roy and I forecast that he will be the manager of United before long.
"If he is not the number one man for the future he should be and I think quite a few players believe he is the natural successor to the manager.
"Roy is already a real leader, the boss in our squad. He is above anyone else in the group and every player accepts that.
"He is very dominating, from the minute he walks into the dressing-room or through the front door. He throws his weight about and he takes all the decisions in the squad.
"And that's why Roy will become a fantastic manager. He has all the qualities a manager needs. His football ideas and his vision are incredible, both on and off the pitch.
"He doesn't suffer fools easily and tells players off immediately when they are not doing the business for the team whether they are on the pitch or the training field.
"I like Roy a lot. I am really pro-Keane. Of course he has done a few daft things in his career but he knows that better than anyone else. He is the working-class hero and that makes him so popular at Old Trafford."
Van Nistelrooy also reveals for the first time how homesickness nearly destroyed his United career.
"It sounds daft, but I missed my own country like mad and I was really struggling to settle in the first season. As soon as I got off a plane in Amsterdam, it felt as if a massive weight had fallen off my shoulders.
"I was so relieved to be back home and there were times when I wondered if I could drag myself back, if I'd made a mistake in leaving Holland.
"I bought my own house in a little village called Heesch, because my girlfriend Leontien and I wanted to have our own place back in Holland. I know I am not a cosmopolitan, I am a real Dutchman and always will be.
"Fortunately the feeling of being homesick is going. Last year every single day off I used to go back home. Honestly, I was on the plane all the time. So far this season I have not been back once."
Van Nistelrooy also claims that David Beckham is embarrassed by his public image and cringes whenever he's on TV.
He said: "David has superstar status and in the eye of the public is a real celebrity. That is his image, created by his wife and because of his looks. But it is not the David Beckham I know as a team-mate. He is the most modest lad of all in our squad.
"It sounds stupid, but David is shy and quiet. He does not want to attract all the limelight when we play or train.
"And he hates to see himself on television. He quickly switches to another channel when he is on the box in a hotel or at the club. He really does not want to see it, he feels so embarrassed."
The Dutch striker admits that training at United has taken him by surprise but he reveals that Fergie never takes a session - and claims the players have dubbed him The Hawk because he never misses a thing.
"We don't do any easy stuff like passing, cross passing and easy stuff like that. When you sign for United you have to be so talented that this part of your game should be perfect already.
"Alex Ferguson never takes us training. He walks around all the time and he hears and sees everything. He watches us train, he gives advice, talks to players individually and gives them a telling-off or he pats someone on the back.
"He never misses a thing. The players call him The Hawk because nothing goes unnoticed. If you go to the toilet he knows about it."
But Fergie is not a tyrant and he couldn't care less if his players lose all their money at cards if they win on Saturday.
"The boss is very relaxed, he does not order us to wear the same suits or gear. We can all wear what we want, we don't have to report for breakfast at a certain time when we're in a hotel and we can have a lie-in when we want or even have breakfast in the room.
"Sir Alex does not care too much as long as we win. In the rest of Europe this would be impossible. But Sir Alex even lets us take family on the players' coach on the way back. It makes things so much more relaxed.
"The players spend a lot of time travelling. Oh, and maybe I shouldn't say this but a lot of them play cards.
"Yes, they play for money. I can see them writing stuff down all the time when they are playing. They play on the train when we go to London, in hotels or on the plane and the manager is fine as long as he is winning.
"But I don't want to be a hypocrite, they can afford it. If you play in the first team at United, your wages are astronomical.
"Honestly, what we earn is not just a whacking amount of money by Dutch standards, it's obscene when you compare it to what is earned in the rest of Europe.
"As a player you choose a club and you pick the ideal country where you want to play, but I admit that the size of your wage packet plays a major part."
Yet it doesn't stop Van Nistelrooy leading a normal life.
"The supporters don't care how much we earn as long as we are successful. I have always found them very polite
"If I go out for dinner, they leave me in peace until I have finished my meal. When I have paid for the bill they ask me for a signature.
"I enjoy it that I have the chance to go out to restaurants, to the local pub in Bowden and to the cinema, without getting jumped on.
"The only problem I have is going shopping in Manchester. That is really impossible. That's why I don't go any more and the players take the rise out of my clothing. I don't care though, clothes aren't important to me and for all the money I earn I'm not materialistic."
Van Nistelrooy says he has never refused to sign autographs for any kid and every fan, but the players have been told always to ask who it is for to deter collectors looking to make vast amounts of money at their expense.
"The players refuse to sign shirts with just their name on it because those people who ask me that, want to make money.
"I have seen shirts with my own autograph in auctions and on internet for more than £700 and that makes me sick.
"The club have told us to be careful because when you play for Manchester United someone is always going to try to make money out of you.
"I don't need to sell my shirt to make money and I don't see why other people should profit from it.
"If a fan is genuine I will always stop and sign something. Football has given me a life beyond my reach and if I just put a little something back it makes me happy."
From the Mirror.
RUUD Van Nistelrooy believes Manchester United should abandon their worldwide search to find a long-term successor to Sir Alex Ferguson and offer the job to club captain Roy Keane.
The Dutch striker claims Keane has all the qualities needed to succeed Ferguson and the drive and respect to maintain success at Old Trafford.
In one of the frankest interviews of his career Van Nistelrooy lifts the lid on life at United.
He reveals that homesickness almost wrecked his Old Trafford career, how David Beckham gets embarrassed by his celebrity lifestyle, how United players are allowed to play cards for money, and how he struggles to come to terms with the fabulous wealth that goes hand in hand with playing for the world's biggest clubs.
On the field Keane is already established as one of the best leaders of his generation and, while controversy is rarely two paces behind the Irishman, Van Nistelrooy believes there is no one better qualified to replace Ferguson when he eventually retires.
He said: "Nobody else has more qualities for the manager's job than Roy and I forecast that he will be the manager of United before long.
"If he is not the number one man for the future he should be and I think quite a few players believe he is the natural successor to the manager.
"Roy is already a real leader, the boss in our squad. He is above anyone else in the group and every player accepts that.
"He is very dominating, from the minute he walks into the dressing-room or through the front door. He throws his weight about and he takes all the decisions in the squad.
"And that's why Roy will become a fantastic manager. He has all the qualities a manager needs. His football ideas and his vision are incredible, both on and off the pitch.
"He doesn't suffer fools easily and tells players off immediately when they are not doing the business for the team whether they are on the pitch or the training field.
"I like Roy a lot. I am really pro-Keane. Of course he has done a few daft things in his career but he knows that better than anyone else. He is the working-class hero and that makes him so popular at Old Trafford."
Van Nistelrooy also reveals for the first time how homesickness nearly destroyed his United career.
"It sounds daft, but I missed my own country like mad and I was really struggling to settle in the first season. As soon as I got off a plane in Amsterdam, it felt as if a massive weight had fallen off my shoulders.
"I was so relieved to be back home and there were times when I wondered if I could drag myself back, if I'd made a mistake in leaving Holland.
"I bought my own house in a little village called Heesch, because my girlfriend Leontien and I wanted to have our own place back in Holland. I know I am not a cosmopolitan, I am a real Dutchman and always will be.
"Fortunately the feeling of being homesick is going. Last year every single day off I used to go back home. Honestly, I was on the plane all the time. So far this season I have not been back once."
Van Nistelrooy also claims that David Beckham is embarrassed by his public image and cringes whenever he's on TV.
He said: "David has superstar status and in the eye of the public is a real celebrity. That is his image, created by his wife and because of his looks. But it is not the David Beckham I know as a team-mate. He is the most modest lad of all in our squad.
"It sounds stupid, but David is shy and quiet. He does not want to attract all the limelight when we play or train.
"And he hates to see himself on television. He quickly switches to another channel when he is on the box in a hotel or at the club. He really does not want to see it, he feels so embarrassed."
The Dutch striker admits that training at United has taken him by surprise but he reveals that Fergie never takes a session - and claims the players have dubbed him The Hawk because he never misses a thing.
"We don't do any easy stuff like passing, cross passing and easy stuff like that. When you sign for United you have to be so talented that this part of your game should be perfect already.
"Alex Ferguson never takes us training. He walks around all the time and he hears and sees everything. He watches us train, he gives advice, talks to players individually and gives them a telling-off or he pats someone on the back.
"He never misses a thing. The players call him The Hawk because nothing goes unnoticed. If you go to the toilet he knows about it."
But Fergie is not a tyrant and he couldn't care less if his players lose all their money at cards if they win on Saturday.
"The boss is very relaxed, he does not order us to wear the same suits or gear. We can all wear what we want, we don't have to report for breakfast at a certain time when we're in a hotel and we can have a lie-in when we want or even have breakfast in the room.
"Sir Alex does not care too much as long as we win. In the rest of Europe this would be impossible. But Sir Alex even lets us take family on the players' coach on the way back. It makes things so much more relaxed.
"The players spend a lot of time travelling. Oh, and maybe I shouldn't say this but a lot of them play cards.
"Yes, they play for money. I can see them writing stuff down all the time when they are playing. They play on the train when we go to London, in hotels or on the plane and the manager is fine as long as he is winning.
"But I don't want to be a hypocrite, they can afford it. If you play in the first team at United, your wages are astronomical.
"Honestly, what we earn is not just a whacking amount of money by Dutch standards, it's obscene when you compare it to what is earned in the rest of Europe.
"As a player you choose a club and you pick the ideal country where you want to play, but I admit that the size of your wage packet plays a major part."
Yet it doesn't stop Van Nistelrooy leading a normal life.
"The supporters don't care how much we earn as long as we are successful. I have always found them very polite
"If I go out for dinner, they leave me in peace until I have finished my meal. When I have paid for the bill they ask me for a signature.
"I enjoy it that I have the chance to go out to restaurants, to the local pub in Bowden and to the cinema, without getting jumped on.
"The only problem I have is going shopping in Manchester. That is really impossible. That's why I don't go any more and the players take the rise out of my clothing. I don't care though, clothes aren't important to me and for all the money I earn I'm not materialistic."
Van Nistelrooy says he has never refused to sign autographs for any kid and every fan, but the players have been told always to ask who it is for to deter collectors looking to make vast amounts of money at their expense.
"The players refuse to sign shirts with just their name on it because those people who ask me that, want to make money.
"I have seen shirts with my own autograph in auctions and on internet for more than £700 and that makes me sick.
"The club have told us to be careful because when you play for Manchester United someone is always going to try to make money out of you.
"I don't need to sell my shirt to make money and I don't see why other people should profit from it.
"If a fan is genuine I will always stop and sign something. Football has given me a life beyond my reach and if I just put a little something back it makes me happy."
From the Mirror.
