KEANE UPDATE

Roy Keane will not appeal against his five-match ban and £150,000 fine imposed by the Football Association, although he insists the charges were 'not justified'. A statement from Keane read:

"I believe that the charges brought against me by the Football Association were not justified and I feel that the evidence and arguments put forward by me and my legal representatives to the disciplinary commission were sufficiently strong.

"Accordingly, I would prefer to have this matter reviewed by way of an appeal.

"However, I consider that I must put the interests of Manchester United Football Club and my family before my own, and for that reason I have decided not to pursue an appeal against the decision of the Football Association Disciplinary Commission."

A club statement said:

"Manchester United supports Roy's decision not to appeal against the FA's judgement. This now allows everyone to draw a line under the matter.

"We look forward to the club captain regaining full fitness and returning to first team action on the completion of his suspension."

Keane was back in Cork yesterday:

Cork soccer fans lined up on Thursday to pay homage to Roy Keane and to implore the star to return to Ireland's struggling national team now that Mick McCarthy has gone. Keane was making his first public appearance since McCarthy's resignation on Tuesday.

The former Irish captain, whose tirade against McCarthy got him kicked off Ireland's World Cup squad in May, had vowed never to play for a McCarthy-coached side again. On Thursday, he had nothing to say to reporters about the McCarthy's departure.

But as he signed copies of his autobiography - the best-selling book in Irish history - he did hint to fans about his international future.

Autograph hunters who had waited hours at Cork's main bookshop asked him the predictable question: Would he come back now? "If they get a good manager," Keane told one fan.

Liam Brady has warned the FAI against trying to make peace with Keane:

"The criteria is to reconcile Roy Keane, and I wouldn't bother," Brady told the Cork Evening Echo.

"The media has given Roy Keane totally unacceptable power. What's it going to take the next time? Is it going to be the fact that the pasta is not right?

"There's a lot of very, very fine players who have played for Ireland and had to put up with some of the things that Roy Keane has had to put up with.

"And we did because we wanted to play for our country," added Brady.

Meanwhile with John Aldridge and Bryan Robson in the frame as Ireland's new manager certain McCarthyists can sense their international career slipping away:

"I am a big fan of Roy Keane,'' said McAteer.

"He's a world-class player and we are going to benefit from having him. After all that has gone on between us, I do actually like Roy.

"What happened is part and parcel of football. I'm not going to walk away and say I hate Roy Keane for what happened because I don't. At the end of 90 minutes you shake each others' hand and get on with it.

"Roy made the decision to leave the World Cup. Roy is not a fool and he's not a nasty person but he left Mick to pick up the pieces and fight the journalists. Now they (the journalists) have stabbed him in the back. A lot of journalists didn't want Mick in the first place and he's proved them wrong - what he's achieved is unbelievable."