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#4 - He's not a fan of smoking
"Fabien Barthez and Laurent Blanc used to smoke together in the toilets, at half-time. They were French – they smoked. If it had been a couple of Irish lads, I’d have been shouting at them: Yeh dirty b*****ds – get out!"
Keane shared a Manchester United dressing room with some peculiar characters over the years, but even he couldn't get his head around Barthez and Blanc.
The pair, who had won a World Cup and European Championship with the French national team, had found themselves together again with the Red Devils. While they did inspire glory, they'd brought along some of their bad habits too, much to Keane's chagrin.
#3 - His assessment of being attacked by his manager
"Cloughie was dead right, absolutely. It was the best thing he ever did for me. It’s good to get angry. It’s an emotion, part of the game."
Keane was arguably one of football's most famous 'hard-men', and his origin story can likely be traced back to his time at Nottingham Forest. Playing under legendary manager Brian Clough, who'd won the club two European Cups, he was left under no illusion of the standards required.
The quote above shows the Irishman reminiscing the time Clough punched him to knock some sense into him. He pondered whether he should do the same to his Ipswich team, which at the time had just won thrice away all season
#2 - His sense of rivalry with Liverpool is still strong
"You’re going to war. Hugging and kissing, don’t even look at them. You’re going to battle against them. The game hasn’t changed that much, the players have. Maybe chat to them after the game. Actually, don’t even chat to them after the game."
These comments came after a game between United and arch-rivals Liverpool in October 2019 that ended 1-1. As the cameras panned to the tunnels before the game started, the Brazilian trio of Andreas Pereira, Roberto Firmino, and Fabinho were caught greeting one another with smiles.
Keane, who had been a mainstay as the Red Devils broke the Merseysiders' dominance of the league, felt the team had lost the edge that had made them so superior for two-and-a-half decades.
#1 - To him, mentality is everything
"People say I’m a bit old school; I call it good school. No matter what’s going on at your club, you go out and give it your all. The idea that these players may be a little bit upset…and it’s not just at United. The modern player, they aren’t just weak players, they are very weak human beings."
If you've watched Sky Sports in any capacity during Keane's time there, then you've definitely witnessed one of his rants about how modern footballers are a disgrace to the game. It's a criticism he has often - and maybe unfairly - directed at the likes of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard after taking offense out of their fashion sense.
This particular diatribe was directed at the United team after Jose Mourinho was sacked in 2018. Keane also suggested that these players would "obviously get away with murder" looking at the way they constantly hid behind the manager for their failings.
