A year on the Wear: Roy Keane took us inside his house this week. No, not literally, but via his own version of Through The Keyhole, and it was quite revealing.

It came in the midst of his criticism about the egomania running wild in the England squad, a collection of individual conceit that Keane said was the principal reason why England failed to qualify for Euro 2008. Keane did not name names, but, during his dissection of the likes of Frank Lampard, David Beckham and Ashley Cole - and how they like to be "stroked" - Keane referred to his own international experiences.

Now we all know that these could be summed up, in Sven-Goran Eriksson-speak, as: "First half, good, second half, not so good." The surprise was Keane immediately focused on the first half, and warmly.

Recalling the Ireland squads of the early-to-mid 1990s, Keane said: "I look back and I still have pictures in my house of some of the nights out, believe it or not."

Well, it is quite hard to believe, even more so the thought that Keane looks at them and slips into mellow reminiscence.

"I wouldn't show them to anybody," he added quickly, "we would be locked up. But it brings a smile to my face now.

"Obviously I had my ups and downs with Ireland and towards the end voiced my concerns with what was going on. But the first few years, the '94 World Cup . . . Jesus."

The grin on Keane's face told of enjoyment and he said the absence of ego among those Ireland squads was part of their attraction - and success. But so was the social life. This is the interesting part because, as he said, towards the end of his days as an Ireland international under Mick McCarthy's management, Keane had grown to distrust the bonhomie, view it as a negative rather than a positive force within a squad and a team. By the time he finished playing, a puritanical Keane appeared to see this part of professional football as a distraction or serious threat. But as he has said from day one at Sunderland: change is good.

Simply the experience of being a manager forces new situations upon a man and it has affected even one as seemingly hard-nosed and single-minded as Keane.

Sunderland go to Everton today and Keane went to watch David Moyes's side at Goodison Park recently. After so many years of walking head-down into the players' entrance and then emerging on to the pitch and then disappearing back again on to the Manchester United bus, Keane now goes in the front door. He met the Evertonians who work there, was impressed by their welcome and left thinking "Everton is a proper football club - I see these clubs in a different light to when I was a player."

Now Keane's Irish past - part of it at least - also falls into that same category.

"We went down the road of having big drinking sessions until five or six in the morning and we always seemed to do well on the Wednesday," he said. "I'm not saying go back to that, but it's a balancing act. Even the Irish set-up has changed to a degree. Those days are gone, they've got to be back at two now instead of six.

"It's a hard one. Every country, every mentality is different. In Ireland it was always okay to go out for a few pints. You would go for a few drinks with supporters, you'd be drinking with them, clubbing it with them and they'd be screaming for you to do well on the Wednesday. Generally we'd do well.

"In defence of England they can't do that. The English mentality is different from the Irish. It's a complicated one, for years I loved going away but it depends who's manager, I suppose. With Jack I enjoyed it, not necessarily the football, but it was a bit of a laugh, I have to say.

"But your own personal pride comes into it. There's a time to laugh and a time to prepare and to do things properly.

"From my own experience with Ireland we would have a laugh on a Sunday night but be ready for the Wednesday.

"That was just that certain group of players at that time, a lot of experience, a lot of big drinkers in that group.

"But you look at the group now, a lot of young players and even the ones from our club, the attitude is that you've got to do things properly."

The sight of Sunderland players in not always swish bars on Tyneside shows Keane's puritanism has been diluted since the crimson end to his playing days. He has been only too happy to talk about his squad's jaunts to assault courses and go-kart tracks but he knows there is also the release and the bond created by socialising.

Sunderland need it. Keane remains in good humour despite his team not having won since mid-September, but there is likely to be a debut for Andy Cole today at Goodison Park - probably from the bench - and there was the sight of captain Dean Whitehead back for a wind-whipped friendly against Chesterfield on Tuesday.

The mention of Whitehead brought the conversation full circle. Keane had touched on Phil Neville - "I'd like a Phil Neville at my club. He trains well, he's always on time, he looks after himself, he has no ego." And in Whitehead he may have that figure.

"He's been a massive loss to us on a match day. He has a great chance of being a top, top player for many years to come. He's quick, he's fast, he's strong. We'd like him to get a few more goals. But he is a good leader, his ego is fine. I'm stroking him along nicely."