ROY KEANE has taught himself to switch off from football so management does not give him a heart attack. The Sunderland boss is in the most stressful time of the season, but says he is calm by taking time off to be with his wife and kids.The Championship leaders face a four-game run-in to determine whether they are promoted and claim a £35million TV cash boost. Keane said: "You see managers age very, very quickly and a lot have had heart problems - I hope that won't happen to me.
"I do all sorts - walking the dog, having a kick about in the garden with the kids, watching TV. He added: "I've been a manager for two minutes, if I'm having stress problems now God help me."
Not to mention Ferguson's possible successorIt was striking to note the apparent omission of Keane's name in Ferguson's routinely compulsive football chit-chat with Harry Redknapp last Saturday afternoon. Before Portsmouth's shock defeat of Manchester United the two long-standing managers whiled away the hours in Redknapp's office. "We were talking about Peterborough, Redknapp said, "his boy's team got done in the last minute. He knows every division, he's like me. He's talking about Mansfield and how Macclesfield have done well with Incey [Paul Ince]." Of course Redknapp might have chosen not to mention any praise Ferguson could have heaped on his former captain but the suspicion lingers that the bitterness of Keane's parting from United has still to evaporate. Yet even as Ferguson dreams of the same treble they conjured together in 1999 - the intriguing idea that Keane will succeed him at Old Trafford gathers pace.