Roy Keane spat with players not to blame for his and Martin ONeills sacking, says Republic of Ireland striker Jon Walters

Roy Keane spat with players not to blame for his and Martin ONeills sacking, says Republic of Ireland striker Jon Walters
Roy Keanes apparently strained relationship with Republic of Ireland players played no part in his and Martin ONeills sacking in charge of the national team.Thats according to Ireland striker Jon Walters, who refused to lay any blame on the Manchester United legend, despite an alleged clash between the pair over the summer.Manager ONeill and his assistant Keane left their roles with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) on Wednesday after the team finished bottom of their UEFA Nations League group.While results on the pitch have not been good enough they have just one win in 11 games there are also claims that a lack of squad harmony and ONeills continued support of No.2 Keane was one of the reasons behind their departure.3

Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane have left their roles with Ireland

Keane found himself in the centre of another storm over the summer when he was accused of verbally attacking Ireland duo Walters and Harry Arterafter they sat out of training due to medical advice.According to a subsequently leaked series of WhatsApp messages by defender Stephen Ward, Keane is said to have called the Bournemouth midfielder a p**** and a c***, and also apparently squared up with Walters during a training session. There were calls for Keane to be sacked over the incident, but ONeill stood by his assistant and Arter has since revealed he has patched things up with the former Manchester United midfielder.And, speaking to talkSPORT on Thursday, Ireland striker Walters said the aforementioned events were not to blame for the management teams departure.Ive played under him [Keane] a couple of times and I dont want to get into a mud-slinging argument here or anything like that, Walters told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast.3

Walters has refused to lay blame on Roy Keane’s poor relationship with players for the reason behind his departure

Obviously things happened over the summer which were well publicised, I wasnt part of what happened with the leaked WhatsApp or whatever happened.Things do happen, but I dont think its the right time to push that and say thats the reason.At the end of the day, were the players that go out on the pitch and we havent got the results over the last 12 months and ultimately when that happens the pressure always goes to the manager.As a player youre not held accountable so much, it always goes to the manager, the manager always gets under pressure when the results dont come their way.

"The major thing that gets people the sack is results." Tony Cascarino told talkSPORT that it was Martin O'Neill's loyalty to Roy Keane that saw him leave the Republic of Ireland job.But Ally McCoist disagrees.Who do you think should replace O'Neill? pic.twitter.com/76W1KZhpHS— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) November 22, 2018

Walters currently out of the Ireland team due to an Achilles injury did suggest that sacking ONeill was perhaps the wrong decision from the FAI.He feels they would have sealed qualification to Euro 2020 under the experienced boss, despite their lack of recent form.The Burnley man added: The results havent been great over the last 12 months, but to balance that there has been a big change in the squad.3

Walters believes Ireland would have qualified for Euro 2020 under Martin ONeill

I think we still would have qualified under Martin.But its been a difficult 12 months and the people in charge have decided to change it.Listen back to Jon Walters on the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast IN FULL above!

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