Roy Keane may not be best buds with Eamon Dunphy anymore.
But when the Corkman was asked last week at a charity event about his opinion of Steven Gerrard, the ex-Manchester United midfielder reached for Dunphy’s famous description of Michel Platini.
Dunphy was not fan of the Frenchman in the 1980s, and we’d hate to hear what he thinks of the UEFA man now, but in a discussion on great players during a game, Dunphy famously said ‘Michel Platini has no bottle. He is not a great player.’
Everyone would, of course, agree that Eamo was off his rocker and that Platini, dodgy dealings with Sepp Blatter aside, was indeed one of the best French players of the last 50 years.
The quote has gone down in infamy, and it seems that all the time hanging around the Dubliner has rubbed off on his ‘Royness’ as the Ireland assistant coach used a similarly cutting remark to describe the current LA Galaxy midfielder.
Keane was asked his opinion on Gerrard as a midfielder, and where he would rate him in the pantheon of the best players he’s come across.
And, to be polite, his answer was less than complimentary of the former Liverpool captain.
Keane isn’t interested in saying players are legends. Instead, he’s happier to just say something nice, and boring, and pat Gerrrard on the head like a good boy.
“He was a good player. He was a really good player. I don’t throw around these lines that everyone was a great player or a legend. That’s all nonsense.”
“He was a really good player and I think he would have done well at United. He won Liverpool a lot of big games. Good player Gerrard. You can’t take that away from him.”
