Roy Keane has denied claims that Peter Taylor spent two days coaching Town before being told he wouldn’t be joining the Blues boss’s backroom staff. Keane has also revealed that he is looking to sign one of the three trialists who played for the reserves against Norwich City on Wednesday, almost certainly Senegalese left-back Ibrahima Faye.
Keane dismissed this morning’s newspaper claims that Taylor had spent time working with his squad: "Peter Taylor hasn’t taken any training sessions.
"I spoke with Peter during the week and we discussed a few things and we both decided we’d go our separate ways. It’s very straightforward. Peter’s a top coach and a good man, but we both decided we’d go our separate ways in terms of working together. It didn’t work out and I wish Peter well.”
Keane also knocked down a report earlier this week that claimed he had had bids turned down for Stoke pair Danny Higginbotham and Leon Cort: "I’ve not spoken to anyone from Stoke, I’ve made no offers for any of their players.”
The Blues boss says the search for new players and coaches continues: "Every day we look at players that we think we might be able to get that can improve the squad. We’re always looking at players, staff, medical staff, anything that can improve the club.
"But we’ve had made offers, the only managers I’ve spoken to regarding players are managers who have been in touch about some of my players.
"I’ve been saying for a number of weeks that we’re lacking a bit of experience in one or two positions, but other than that I’m very happy with the group of players I’ve got. If I wasn’t looking to improve the squad in terms of the players and the staff, I wouldn’t be doing my job. That happens on a daily basis.”
Keane says he is looking to sign one of the three trialists who were in action in the reserves on Wednesday with Senegalese international defender Ibrahima Faye having caught the eye more than Icelandic U19 international strike pair Ragnar Leosson and Pape Mamadou Faye: "We’ll look to make progress on one of them in the next one or two days.
The Town manager wouldn’t confirm the identity of the player but when asked refused to rule out that his target was Ibrahima Faye: "Might be.”
Faye, who started at left-back for the reserves before moving to left midfield and can also operate at centre-half, was with French side Troyes until the summer. The 30-year-old has previously played for SM Caen and Red Star 93 in France and Belgian side KAA Gent. Capped three times by Senegal, he has recently been on trial with Stoke City and Leicester.
Keane says the discussions are still in their early stages: "He’s not with any club. We’ll see how negotiations go over the next one or two days. We’re in talks with the boy’s agent and we know how long that can take but we’re hopeful.
"The boy did well, he was in a couple of weeks ago and we played him in the reserve game against Norwich and he did well. He’s a big strong boy.
Keane says he will also continue to keep an eye on the progress of the other two trialists: "It wasn’t necessarily about these three boys playing the one game, we’re going to monitor certain players, of course we are.”