On this day in 2005, Roy Keane made his shock exit from Manchester United following a "fall out" with Sir Alex*. Roy, bless him, had been stirring things up at United, firstly by dismissing United's pre-season tour to Portugal as a "waste of time" and then giving an interview to MUTV that was, thankfully, not published, where he "laid in to" several of his team mates. Aiming at Rio Ferdinand, Keane said "Just because you are paid £120,000 a week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a "super star", just one of his exclamations! Regarded once as a "trusted player", Keane had become a loose cannon and Alex Ferguson acted in a typically ruthless manner by ridding himself of his troublesome captain.
Keane and Ferguson were once famously "close", with the Irishman seen as his boss' spokesman on the pitch. But the pair began to drift apart following the row at the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal last July. That disagreement was believed to be about the quality of the set-up in Portugal and the fact that players' wives were allowed to attend. It was also not the first time he has fallen out with a manager over a training camp - Keane famously stormed out of the 2002 World Cup because he was angered by then-manager Mick McCarthy's preparations. He vowed then to never play for his country again while McCarthy was in charge, and duly stayed in the cold until Brian Kerr took the helm for the Republic. * I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU RESEARCH ROY ON THE WWWEB! THERE'S TOO MUCH STUFF FOR ME TO TRANSFER ONTO THIS BLOG.
Keane's Man Utd testimonial took place at Old Trafford on 9 May 2006 between United and Celtic. The home side won the game 1–0, with Keane playing the first half for Celtic and the second half in his former role as Manchester United captain. The capacity crowd of 69,591 remains the largest crowd ever for a testimonial match in England. All of the revenue generated from the match was given to Keane's favourite charity, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind.
I can't cover Roy's entire career on this Blog....too much, too controversial, eg to mention one incident The 2002 World Cup issue....but recommend you research it.
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