Roy Keane has opened up on his unceremonious Manchester United exit, revealing that Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill had sat him down and had prepared a statement for him to that announced he was being let go.
The Irishman also added that the club had also gotten the years wrong on the statement, with Ian Wright claiming his dismissal was ‘cold’.
The 52-year-old controversially walked out of Old Trafford back in November 2005 after appearing in an interview on MUTV where he criticised his team-mates‘ performances following a 4-1 defeat by Middlesbrough – a game in which Keane did not play in.
The incident infuriated his manager, Ferguson, with the United boss opting to fine the midfielder £5,000 before sitting him down in a meeting with chief executive Gill to tell their former captain that they would be severing his contract.
Keane, speaking on the Stick to Football podcast brought to you by Sky Bet, admitted that while he had no problems with club’s dismissing players, he was disappointed about how United had handled his departure.
Roy Keane has spoken out on his unceremonious dismissal from Man United back in 2006
Keane claimed that Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill had sat him down and given him a statement announcing he was being let go
‘I generally have no problem when a club tells a player [to leave the club] – it’s the game we’re in,’ he said on the podcast.
‘For you [Ian Wright], they sat you down and had a chat – to me, at least, that’s kind of respectful.
‘I’m getting called into a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson and David Gill, and before I sat down, they’d already prepared a statement. This is my issue – they already prepared a statement, and they had the years wrong!’
Keane subsequently went on to play at Celtic, but also revealed that he had held talks with both Everton and Bolton and other teams over a potential moves after leaving Man United.
He added: ‘Everton would have been a good move at the time – the location, and I had huge respect for David Moyes – but I felt I couldn’t go to another English team.’
The midfielder returned 51 goals and 38 assists in 478 appearances across all competitions for Man United between 1993 and 2006.
He won seven Premier League titles with the football club, four FA Cups and one Champions League title, playing an important role in the Red Devils’ historic treble winning campaign in 1999.
After his departure from United, he went on to play for Celtic for half a season in 2006 but his career was cut short after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament and was told by medical professionals to retire.
Keane, who could have joined Moyes’ Everton after United, also spoke out on the Scottish manager and claimed, during his time with Man United, the 60-year-old had struggled to sign many of his targets.
‘When David Moyes went in [as manager at Manchester United], Moyes said the amount of players he was after that they never got done – they [couldn’t] get them done,’ Keane said.
Keane won seven Premier League titles with the Red Devils during a 12-year spell at Old Trafford
He also spoke out on former Man United and Everton manager David Moyes, claiming he had struggled to sign his targets when in charge at Old Trafford
‘Moyes was almost beaten before he started because the big transfers, first summer, they couldn’t get deals [and] in the last minute they got [Marouane] Fellaini from Everton and almost from that it was like, “Oh, is that it?”‘
He added that he ‘loved’ his time at Celtic lauding the Scottish Premiership side as an ‘iconic’ club, claiming that he enjoyed playing in a different environment to Man United.
Keane would subsequently go into management and spent time as the head coach at Sunderland and Ipswich, while taking up the assistant coach at Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
And despite having enjoyed his time playing at Celtic, he notably turned down an opportunity to manage the side.
Roy Keane was speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, brought to you by Sky Bet.
