Keane may have spent yesterday afternoon adding fuel to the fire of his feud with Alex Ferguson but speaking in Dublin last night, the former Manchester United manager had nothing but praise for the Corkman.
Ferguson showed no signs that he heard any of Keane's comments yesterday as he described him as one of the best midfielders in Europe, in front of an audience that included Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Brian O'Driscoll.
The first time Keane's name arose was when Ferguson made a point that I think Keano actually would probably agree with – the lack of mentally tough players in today's game:
See particularly in the last ten or 15 years the players we were getting were the most fragile we'd ever had, not like the Robsons and the Keanes.
It was because they have grown up differently.
Then finally, Ferguson mentioned what is now definitively referred to as 'THAT night in Barcelona,' as being the best night of his life. He said:
The most fantastic football moment of my life: Barcelona 1999. Now many people say we were lucky but the character of that team won that game.
We didn't actually play well in the first half I must say...
We didn't have Roy Keane or Paul Scholes - the best midfield players in Europe.
Here's the audio, courtesy of FM104.
So there you have it.
I suppose an event with 1700 business leaders and the Taoiseach was never going to be the time or the place to strike the next blow in his row with Keane but I've no doubt that Ferguson knew these comments about his former captain would be picked up on. Maybe he's starting to warm to him again. The Alex Ferguson Roy Keane soap opera rolls on.
hat-tip: FM104 Image: Eugene Bent
