Delaney's comments give little hope

The speed and certainty with which FAI treasurer John Delaney appeared to shoot down any hopes that Roy Keane will return to Ireland's World Cup squad after last night's interview with RTÉ's Tommie Gorman strongly suggests that the player's comments will not make any significant difference to the dispute between manager and player.

With Development Officer John Byrne claiming that the association had been actively involved in an attempt to patch up a deal between the two parties that might have allowed Keane to return to the squad it seems likely that Delaney and other leading officials were fully aware of how far the 30 year-old midfielder would have to go before any progress could be made.

As it turned out, however, he did not go very far at all with the Manchester United player declining to apologise for his part in last Thursday's row at the team's hotel in Saipan, claiming to have been badly treated in the affair both by McCarthy and a number of the other senior players and repeatedly insisting that it is the manager who must make the next move if the problem is going to be resolved.

In the full version of the interview, screened later in the evening, Keane gave a detailed and reasoned account of the grievances that had prompted him first to complain to McCarthy and then to make criticisms of the facilities in his interview with The Irish Times.

His account of the problems he said were encountered by the squad on the tiny Pacific island of Saipan is sure to win him support from supporters and perhaps from some who hold some influence in the current situation.

It is his failure at any point to make a significant peace offering to McCarthy, however, which will come as the greatest disappointment to everybody who so desperately wanted to see the current stand off resolved.

Delaney, who in the absence of Brendan Menton - currently at the FIFA congress in Seoul - was the association's most senior official in Ireland yesterday, was certainly confident that Keane had not done enough to prompt a major shift in the dispute.

"Roy is obviously very hurt," he observed, "he is very emotional but I know from talking to people that we are all hurt.

"The decision was taken by Mick McCarthy and the players last week, though," he added "and I don't see any change in that at this stage to be honest."

Delaney went on to state that "of course Roy wants to play in the World Cup but we all know the circumstances why he can't play there."

He said that the FAI had been active behind the scenes in attempting to put together some sort of deal that might have satisfied all of the parties involved but that this had not been achieved and could probably not now be achieved.

"We need some closure on this," he said.

"This is Monday and the game is Saturday for which we have 22 players. The controversy must end now."

There looks to be very little chance of that regardless of what might be said in the immediate aftermath of the last night's events.

Both of the main protagonists have a huge amount at stake with Keane, apart from his obvious desire to play at a World Cup finals, reportedly coming under pressure from commercial sponsors to reach a compromise.

McCarthy, meanwhile, faces the prospect of a huge backlash against him if he persists with his current position and results in Ireland's three group games go badly while the way he handles the situation - and his star player - will doubtless be remembered by potential employers over the years to come.