“All these lads I’m talking about here, were good trainers…”
He mightn’t like you, he might cut you in half with an almighty dig but as long as you’ve played alongside him, and have given your all in ‘the trenches’ with him, you’ll have Roy Keane’s respect and the Cork man’s respect is one of the hardest earned things in football.
“I wouldn’t say I liked Peter (Schmeichel) that much,” he says unflinchingly, “but yeah as a goalkeeper and a character, you’d want him in goal for you…”
Strictly business, the great Dane should take it as a compliment.
Jamie Carragher to his credit, gets the best out of Roy Keane and when the pair sat down to pick a combined Liverpool ’20 and United ’99 team on Monday night, Carragher pushed all the right buttons.
“Giggs is not going in my team…”
Cue a look of world-ending exasperation.
“Aw Jamie…”
The pair clashed on several calls, with Keane reluctantly settling for two Liverpool players, in Virgil van Dijk and Trend Alexander Arnold, making the team. And while many of the arguments may have been tongue-in-cheek based, there were some fascinating insights in a brilliant piece of television on Sky Sports.
One thing the pair did agree on, was the brilliance of David Beckham and Keane’s take on how the off-the-field stuff never really distracted his teammate, was a highlight.
“I actually think that celebrity status took away from how good he was, I think he was underrated,” said Carragher.
Keane’s respect for ‘Becks’ was always total.
“It’s what your teammates think of you, that’s the respect you’re after. We always appreciated him and Becks, for all his brilliance, worked his socks off…Whenever Becks was doing this off the field stuff, I never thought he took his eye off the ball. His love, and his focus was football…”
"Really? Jamie I'm stunned" 😲@Carra23 picks his Man Utd 99' x Liverpool 20' combined XI but Roy Keane is not satisfied – even with a full Manchester United midfield 🔴
More: https://t.co/aXn22Jz0sS pic.twitter.com/2mLDKExqhR
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) February 18, 2020
Another glimpse of humility from Keane came, when he described himself as a very average player.
“I was very very average, the key to my career was I worked with players who carried me along,” he said dead-pan.
It’s often hard to distinguish, out of which side of Keane’s mouth he’s speaking but this seemed a genuine appraisal from the Rebel.
But between the above and below clips, the highlights were as plentiful as they were entertaining, from Keane fending for Jespar Blomqvist to batting for Gary Neville ahead of Trent ‘because Gary gets me tickets for Salford games…’
“I wouldn’t say I liked Peter that much”
‘What could you do?’ “Everything really”
“Jesper Blomqvist was a very, very good player”
“I’d nearly shove Gary in at right back, because Gary gets me tickets for the Salford games…”
"I wouldn't say I liked Peter that much"
'What could you do?' "Everything really"
"Jespar Blomqvist was a very, very good player"
"I'd nearly shove Gary in at right back, because Gary gets me tickets for the Salford games"
Roy Keane is some ticket 🤣pic.twitter.com/88JYCqVBda
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) February 18, 2020
Never change Roy.
