Roy Keane is one of Manchester United legends, having played 326 league games scoring 33 league goals. Sir Alex Ferguson described him in his Autobiography as a
“player of energy, of guts and blood, with a fine instinct for the game and its strategies. He was the most influential presence in the dressing room in the time we worked together. Roy took a lot of the onus off me in making sure the dressing room was operating at a high level of motivation. A manager could never be dismissive of that kind of help from a player”
despite the praise, Roy Keane was still a controversial player and made many dubious actions. Today we will look at some of the most memorable moments from Roy Keane incredible career at Manchester.
The beginning and the first red card
Roy Keane was signed from Nottingham Forrest for 3.75 million pounds, a British record at the time. Keane got quickly involved for the first time, scoring twice in his home debut. He quickly became a regular starter in the team and won his first professional trophy as Manchester retained the premier league. The following season was less successful, and Keane got into his first ever red card when he stamped on Gareth Southgate. He decided to stamp the crystal Palace Defender Twice. For his actions, Keane was suspended for 3 games and was fined for 5.000 pounds. The punishment was so low considering Keane hadn’t been sent off for 5 years. This was the first of 13 red cards Keane would accumulate in a Manchester United Jersey.
Captaincy and winning the PFA player of the year
not all moments were infamous, and Keane showed his peak performance in the 1999/200 season. Before that Keane was nominated captain after Cantona unexpectedly retired in 1997. However, Keane missed most of the season because of a cruciate ligament injured caused by Alf-Inge Håland in a game against a Leeds. Alf-Inge Håland stood over Keane as he laid on the ground and claimed he had tried to hurt him earlier in the game. This incident would spark one of the most infamous Keane moments as he got his revenge 4 years later. Keane did not play for the rest of the season. Keane however managed to overcome his injury and was in impeccable form in the 1999/2000 season he won the PFA footballer of the year after leading Manchester to their sixth premier league title.
The infamous Alf-Inge Håland incident
Roy managed to make the headlines in a Manchester Derby in 2001. With 5minutes left, he was sent off after blatant knee-high foul on Alf-Inge Håland. Many saw this as an act of revenge from when Håland injured him back in 1997. Keane later said in his Autobiography in 2001 that: "I'd waited long enough. I f***ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries, Keane initially received a 5000 pound fine and a three-match ban. However, he was further punished for his comments in his autobiography. He was banned for further five matches and fined a stunning 150,000 pounds for the incident. According to the telegraph Keane later stated that he had no remorse for his notorious tackle “No. Even in the dressing room afterwards. I had no remorse. My attitude was, f**k him. What goes around comes around. He got his just rewards. He f**ked me over and my attitude is an eye for an eye.” He further stated that he would do the same thing probably again.
Roy Keane and Patrick Viera legendary tunnel fight
Through the 2000s. the Arsenal and United skippers had a fierce rivalry and their most famous incident was a bust-up Highbury in 2005. The incident was caught on live cameras minute before kick-off. Keane and Viera were arguing and Keane repeatedly said; “I´ll see you out there”. According to Sporstjoe, Keane later admitted that it was because Viera singled out a “weak link” in Manchester United ranks, Neville. “I had obviously seen you at the top of the tunnel probably having a go at Gary, and maybe one or two others, and what really annoyed me that night was, again whether I was right or wrong was that you (Viera) were picking on Gary,” on the other hand Viera said that he was sticking up for his teammate Robert Pires. At Old Trafford, Neville had tackled Pires badly and Viera thought it was on purpose and said to Neville: “listen, we are not at Old Trafford here, this is Highbury.”
Despite some controversial incidents, Keane had a great career at Manchester. He was and still is the most successful captain at Manchester, helping them winning nine major honours. In addition, Keane holds the joint-most record for red cards in English football. He was inducted into the English football hall of fame in 2004 for his impact on the English game.
Post by: Guðjón Ingi Ingólfsson
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