Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)placeholder image
Former Manchester United captain Roy Keane. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Manchester United legend Roy Keane has taken a fresh swipe at Jonny Evans following his appointment on Michael Carrick’s backroom staff at Old Trafford.
Evans, who won three Premier League titles and enjoyed two stints as a United player, was initially brought back as a coach earlier this month by interim manager Darren Fletcher following Ruben Amorim’s exit.
The 38-year-old has been retained by Carrick as United’s former captain takes charge until the end of this season with ex-England coach Steve Holland and Jonathan Woodgate also taking up roles.
Earlier this week, club icon Keane blasted Evans’ inclusion, questioning his credentials before fuming “what has Jonny Evans done to be a coach of Man United’s first team?”.
Ahead of Saturday’s Manchester derby showdown with Manchester City, Keane has taken aim at Northern Ireland legend Evans once again and questioned decision-making at his old club.
"Jonny Evans has no coaching experience,” he said on Sky Sports. “It would be different if we were sitting here going ‘what has Jonny done?’.
"I like Jonny, he’s solid, I’ve signed him twice, this is not an issue with Jonny, it’s more an issue with the club and decision-making who they are bringing in.
"Jonny Evans left Man United about five or six weeks ago. He left as a player during the summer and they gave him a job as loans manager.
"He leaves that a month or two ago, he had enough of it. He wasn’t there for 10 years doing it, a few months. United are letting hundreds of staff go every week, but Jonny walks away from that job.
"He gets a call a week later from Darren Fletcher. My issue with Jonny is he has no coaching experience...it’s not like he worked in the academy for a few years.
"He comes in with Darren Fletcher and this is where I worry about who is making decisions upstairs. Fletcher has very little experience but he has worked at academy level.
"Jonny gets a call from Man United having worked as a loans manager saying ‘do you want to come back?’. I bet Jonny is thinking ‘what as the kit manager or working with the U12s’. No, he’s working with the first-team.
"It’s a great opportunity for him. The two games don’t go well and you think ‘that’s probably the end of that’, but no, another manager comes in and wants him to stay on as well.”
When pushed by fellow pundits Micah Richards and Daniel Sturridge on Evans’ vital experience of the current United dressing room environment, Keane fired back: "He was in the dressing room last season when they finished 15th!
"He knows the group, what was he doing last season when they finished 15th?
"If you’re a player (in the dressing room) and they bring Jonny back as an ex-player, what’s the logic in that? I don’t mind an ex-player coming back who has been working away in the lower leagues or getting his hours in.
"We sit every week saying United need to get the best of the best in...then they take a gamble on one or two lads who have never coached at this level.”