353: Roy Keane, Manchester United, Merlin’s Premier League 98 Official Sticker Collection

Today Mat Jolin-Beech takes a look at a Premier League icon and possibly football’s most acerbic pundit. Although Sky have done their best to soften his edges by sitting him next to the infectiously cheerful Micah Richards today’s subject only needs to see one defensive error or someone vaguely enjoying their day to revert to the fearsome ways that made him few friends and many enemies. Hopefully Micah can distract him with another FIFA video while he reads this otherwise we might be poking it up our bollocks. Over to Mat.

Captain. Leader. Legend. Not John Terry. Although there is a lot I could say about him far worse than being in full kit to celebrate the Champions League win in 2012 when he didn’t play. So, let me rephrase. Captain. Leader. Madman. That is one Roy Maurice Keane.

As a Manchester United fan who got into football in the early 90s, Keane was the hardman of football and the driving force behind Fergie’s winning machine. He single-handedly ensured standards were met and trophies kept coming into Old Trafford. There were great performances: the 1999 Champions League semi-final against Juventus in Turin. There were moments of madness: Alf-Inge Haaland. And then there was the inevitable combustibleness: Elbowing Jason McAteer; saying even more about trying to turn Haaland’s knee into dust; slamming teammates for a lack of desire and only caring about wealth, and the prawn sandwich brigade.

Throughout this time, Fergie was the boss, and Keane was his on-pitch lieutenant. Players came and went, often sold just as their peak had been passed. (Ronaldo aside – I’m not sure he’s peaked just yet.) Plus, those who crossed Fergie were gone. Immediately. Just ask Mr Beckham or Mr van Nistelrooy. However, Keane was unique. He fell out with Fergie twice. And survived 50% of those clashes.

It was 1999. United were Treble winners and all was rosy. Keane had inspired the team to unprecedented glory. So time to renegotiate his contract. The board offered him a handsome £2m-a-year to fend off a potential move to Italy. They were, probably sternly and not politely, told where to shove that deal. Midway through the 1999/2000 season the board bent over and gave in. They got a sly dig in claiming the season ticket increase was needed to meet these new wage demands. Keane was not happy, blew a nut and demanded an apology. Normally, this would have seen him out the door. But, and crucially in his survival, he was key to the team and had not been replaced. Just look at United’s attempts to line up a successor in 2003 with the signing of Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson. This led to a famous rivalry of the early 2000s with Arsenal’s Patrick Vieira and more trophies.

However, by 2005, the wheels finally fell off. Not only did he criticise the pre-season training camp in Portugal that year, he also took to the club’s in-house TV channel to say he was prepared to play elsewhere when his deal ended. Then, rounding off his whining and final piece in the fallout puzzle, he slammed his teammates once again for thinking they were superstars for “playing well for 20 minutes against Tottenham”. Now, with his ageing knees finally catching up with him, and the latest Roy Keane in the squad with striker turned defensive midfielder Alan Smith, Fergie no longer needed him. He was gone and was now Celtic’s problem. Six months later, injuries had force him to retire. A great of the game, marred by manic outbursts and the odd on-pitch case of ABH.