ROY Keane has warned Scottish and Irish footballers they must clean up their lives if they are ever to match their counterparts from other countries.
The former Republic of Ireland skipper believes many Barclays Premier League footballers, and particularly those not in their teams, could be fitter, and is appalled that is the case.
Keane, who also played in Scotland with Celtic, is adamant that
both his compatriots and players from north of the English border are putting themselves at a disadvantage because of their off-the-field habits.
His comments came after Northern Ireland manager Nigel Worthington expressed his concern at the fitness levels of members of his squad who are struggling to get regular football with their clubs, something which is also a concern for Republic of Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni.
The Sunderland manager said: "The English lads don't seem to be too bad – obviously, the French and the Spanish are good.
"But the players with the biggest problem in terms of changing their mentality are certainly the Irish and the Scottish players, because that's the way they have been brought up.
"That's the way I was brought up. I was brought up eating rubbish, drinking rubbish, so it is trying to change that mentality.
"You have to try to remind the players and provide these dieticians and speak to the players and eventually, you hope the penny will drop."
Keane's squad is packed with Irish talent – Paul McShane and Anthony Stokes, currently out on loan, as well as Liam Miller and Daryl Murphy, were away with the Republic this week, while Andy Reid has been a regular, and £9million Scotland keeper Craig Gordon is a key player.
The Black Cats have worked hard on educating their current crop, but the manager knows they can only do so much. He said: "You can provide everything for them in terms of fitness coaches, the right foods, the right hotels or whatever it might be. But of course, you cannot follow players when they leave your training ground.
"I think a lot of players in the Premier League can be fitter. A lot of players have the excuse that they are not playing – yeah, but you can still get fitter, you can still do extra, still do swimming, still do more weights, get your body-fat down.
"I did it both ways. I was able to get away with it when I was younger, having high body-fat and not leading the right lifestyle.
"But the last six, seven, eight years of my career, you certainly wanted to be as fit as you possibly could. When you consider that's your career and that's your job...and particularly for players who are out of the team, get yourself fitter and you might get in the team.
"It's up to yourself. Nobody should really throw that at you if you are a professional sportsperson, that you are not fit enough. My God, that must hurt players."
