Red mist lingers - A look at famous Roy Keane bust-ups over the years

Keane’s rap sheet of skirmishes are numerous and here we’ve selected five of the exchanges.

1: Mick McCarthy

The pair were never close as teammates and clashed again when McCarthy become his manager. What erupted in Saipan 10 months later in June 2002 could have been flagged from the moment of a famous photograph of the pair at the end of the win over Holland when Keane couldn’t even look at his boss during a handshake.

After initially reversing his decision to quit the squad over substandard facilities, the Leesider didn’t take kindly to being questioned in front of the squad about a couple of interviews he gave. Annoyance turned to full-blown hatred after McCarthy raised the instance of him missing the second leg of a play-off for that tournament in Iran. Both parties said they made the decision that saw Keane depart, with the player wishing his nemesis would “rot in hell”. Keane would later say he was seeking only progress, rather than perfection, and the saga rumbles on. Only last week McCarthy said his efforts to facilitate Keane’s return to the squad were rebuffed.

2: Manchester United teammates

Keane signed his own P45 in 2005 by launching a broadside against a number of his teammates – and did so on Manchester United’s in-house television station. Although the analysis segment of United’s 4-1 loss to Middlesbrough was never broadcast, details leaked out leading to Alex Ferguson calling a meeting of his entire squad. Several players bore the brunt of “Roy Keane plays the pundit”, including compatriot John O’Shea, with a zinger of a line reserved for Rio Ferdinand.

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It led to the club skipper being fined £5,000 but, more importantly, him being effectively sacked after 13 years as the powerhouse during their most successful ever period. Keane didn’t agree with the sanction, later admitting it brought him to tears.

“I was disappointed with the players but it was MUTV, propaganda for the club, so I did the interview,” he explained. None of the players had an issue. Even now people still say: “the video had to be destroyed”. Like it was a nuclear weapon or something.”

3: John Delaney

The ghosts of Saipan, when the FAI’s then treasurer Delaney sided with McCarthy, resurfaced when Keane was asked about the association’s request to have the World Cup play-off against France in 2009 to be replayed over Thierry Henry’s ‘Hand of God’. Keane, at Sunderland at the time, has sympathy for the fans but not the chief executive. “I wouldn’t take any notice of that man,” began his outburst. “What goes around, comes around. People seem to forget what was going on in that World Cup, and that man [Delaney] is on about honesty. I was one of the players and he didn’t have the courtesy to ring me.”

Delaney, in response, branded Keane “sad” but the pair reached a truce in 2013 when Martin O’Neill told the FAI that the ex-Ireland skipper was his assistant. Delaney later told Radio Kerry the reconciliation was a “defining moment in his life”.

4. Keane v Alan Shearer

In 2001, Keane’s temper got the better of him as he picked up a red card taking a swing at then Newcastle striker Shearer in a Premier League clash at St James’s Park. Shearer stopped Keane taking a quick throw-in and Keane took a swing at the Magpies skipper, earning him a straight red card.

5: Roy Keane v Alex Ferguson

Through their various autobiographies, the backbone partnership of Manchester United’s golden era become public enemies. Keane accused his former boss of telling lies about their time together at the club while Fergie questioned the Irishman’s ability to manage, stating “I didn’t think Roy has the patience to build a team.” He also said of the player he cited as the most vital during his time as United: “Roy has the most savage tongue you can imagine.”