Roy Keane (left), Sir Alex Ferguson (right), Rio Ferdinand (inset) - all pics GETTY
Roy Keane (left), Sir Alex Ferguson (right), Rio Ferdinand (inset) - all pics GETTY
Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand shared his thoughts on former club captain Roy Keane's disrespect towards manager Sir Alex Ferguson.
One of the most legendary managers in football history, Ferguson had a hugely successful near three-decade spell at Old Trafford, delivering a record 13 Premier League and two UEFA Champions League titles. Meanwhile, Keane captained the club under Ferguson and achieved success.
However, in a recent interview, Keane seemingly criticised the Scotsman for being involved in the club's search for a new head coach after Ruben Amorim's sack (as per Sky Sports via Mirror):
"Who is making the decisions at United, you have still got Ferguson and David Gill hanging around like a bad smell. Who is making the decisions? (Sir Jim) Ratcliffe, Wilcox? Who is going into the interview process, getting a feeler for them and saying, 'this is the guy for us'."
However, that didn't go down well with Ferdinand, who said about his former teammate:
"Hanging around like a bad smell probably airs on the side of disrespectful to someone like Sir Alex Ferguson. ... I don't agree with what Roy said. I think that's more personal, probably between Roy and his situation with the manager. ... but I wouldn't agree with that myself. ... It was probably a bit like pointing the gun at the wrong people."
Keane played nearly 500 games at Old Trafford under Ferguson, delivering 51 goals and 41 assists, winning seven Premier League and one UEFA Champions League title, among various domestic and continental honours.
Roy Keane's reaction to Sir Alex Ferguson's praise of him in Manchester United's treble-winning season
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane seemingly dismissed his manager Sir Alex Ferguson's praise of the Irishman for his contribution in the club's historic 1998-99 treble-winning season.
Effusive in his praise for his captain, the legendary manager had said that he was 'honoured to be associated' with a player like Keane (as per Football Away Days):
“Running every blade of grass, competing as if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose. He inspired all around him. I felt it was an honour to be associated with this player."
However, Keane surprisingly found that 'insulting,' claiming that it was his duty to deliver such performances:
“Stuff like that kind of almost insults me. What am I supposed to do? Give up? Not cover every blade of the grass? Not do my best for my teammates? Not too much to ask from a club.
"To be honest, I actually get offended when people throw quotes like that at me, as if I'm supposed to be honoured by it. It's like praising the postman for delivering your letters he's supposed to, isn't he? That's his job. My job was to win football matches for Man United."
In a historic first by an English club, Manchester United won the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League, where they scored twice in injury time to beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in the Barcelona final.