Bryan Robson's final season at Manchester United coincided with Roy Keane's first. It was an old captain heading out the door and a future one on his way in.
During pre-season ahead of Keane being signed by Man Utd, Robson was sitting in the club's trainers' room as the prospect of bringing the Corkman to Old Trafford was being discussed.
"In my last year at United, the boss said, that because I wanted to become a manager - and because I always got in really early - I could go up and sit in the trainers’ room and have a cup of tea and coffee and chat with them," Robson said in Dublin on Wednesday at the launch of Carling Ireland's Play on a Premier League Pitch Experience.
This morning - pre-season - they were chatting about Keaney. He [Alex Ferguson] was telling them what the price was going to be and he was asking their opinion, whether they should go for it or not. I just joined in with the conversation and I went, ‘Look it, gaffer, I’ve played against him quite a few times and I’d definitely pay that price for him’.
I think the boss had already made his mind up at the time that he was going to sign him but it was just a matter of getting back up from his staff.
Robson was conscious that he was giving backing to the signing of his own replacement but took solace in knowing he was always going to be a useful part of the squad that season.
When "Keaney", as Robson calls him, first arrived at the club, he wasn't an immediately loud voice in the dressing room.
“He was very quiet. Obviously, on the training pitch and in matches he was really aggressive but he was quite quiet off the pitch.
"But you expect that of young lads when they come into quite an experienced dressing room. You don’t expect them to be shouting their mouths off - unless you’re Paul Ince.
"I didn’t have any doubts about him because Keaney was 21 or 22 when he signed for United. He’d already shown that he had a bit of everything. He could tackle, he was quick, a powerful lad, good in the air, good range of passing, could score a goal."
Robson always expected that Keane would become a substantial personality.
"Off the pitch, Roy would be quiet but on the pitch, even when he was a kid playing for Nottingham Forest, he was loud on the pitch. That’s just a natural professionalism about yourself. You’ve either got that or you don’t.
"Keaney was a bit like myself. I can remember when I was eight-years-old, I’d argue with the teachers who were refereeing the game because you’re into the game and you’ve just got an opinion.
"Roy was very like that. He had his opinion and he wasn’t afraid [to voice it]. I think that's what's wrong with players, to a certain degree, in today's game.
"Players have a great football brain but they're frightened to shout at their mates in case they're giving the wrong information and their manager has a go at them."
Bryan Robson at the launch of Carling Ireland's Play on a Premier League Pitch Experience. Carling are giving Irish fans the chance to win an experience of a lifetime to play a match on a Premier League pitch. To enter, visit www.facebook.com/CarlingIreland.
Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
