Former Sunderland defender Greg Halford has given scathing comments about his time at Sunderland and his experience working under Roy Keane, including a bizarre bust up Keane had with former Ireland teammate Graham Kavanagh.
Halford arrived at Sunderland in the summer of 2007 for over €5 million after Roy Keane has guided the Black Cats to promotion in his first year at management. In the 2007-08 season Halford would only play 9 matches and was loaned out to Charlton Athletic in January of 2008.
Halford would go on to have a solid career, lining out for the likes of Cardiff, Sheffield United and Nottingham Forest before joining Hashtag United, where he currently plays.
Ex-Sunderland Man Recalls Office Dust-Up Between Roy Keane And Ireland Teammate
In an interview with Paul Rowan of The Times, Greg Halford opens up about it turbulent spell at Sunderland and the chaotic nature of the club at the time when Roy Keane was in charge. He recalls one scene where Keane got into a scuffle with former Ireland International Graham Kavanagh while waiting outside his office at Sunderland's training ground.
I hear shouting and tables moving and walls shaking, I was thinking ‘I don’t want to go in here next’. Kav came out with his shirt ripped, I asked him what happened. Kav said ‘I had him (Keane) up against the wall and he was trying to rip my shirt off’. Kav didn’t stand for any crap. His first port of call was speaking his mind, but if somebody disrespected him they were in trouble.
Graham Kavanagh shared the midfield with Roy Keane internationally when Keano returned to the Ireland squad in 2004. When Roy Keane became Sunderland manager in 2006 one of his first signings was Kavanagh. Sunderland would go on to get promoted to the Premier League at the end of that season.
Halford had some more scathing words about Roy Keane's style of management at Sunderland, down playing his involvement in Sunderland's promotion the season prior to him joining the Black Cats.
He got the team promoted from the Championship because of fear more than anything else, he wasn’t a good coach, but he had the best players and he was able to motivate them through whatever he did.
Halford would go on to share more criticisms about Mick McCarthy during his time at Wolves and ironically said McCarthy and Keane were "two pees from the same pod."
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