Relations between Roy Keane and Eamon Dunphy have long since cooled since the latter's Saipan lobbying, and as an example of how far both men have drifted, you need only take a glimpse at today's Irish Daily Star.
Under the headline "Keane Is Our Donald Trump!", Dunphy finds fault with Keane's decision to publicly criticise Ronald Koeman and Everton in the media this week.
During his press briefing on Wednesday, Keane was asked about the James McCarthy situation, which has driven a further wedge between the Irish management team and the club which are arguably our most important suppliers.
Keane replied by venting a long-held frustration surrounding relations with Everton:
We’ve had a problem with Roberto Martinez previously – I always felt the Everton players were going to turn up on crutches.
They shouldn’t be so quick to stop Irish players coming to play for Ireland.
[Darron Gibson] misses a hell of a lot of games for Everton… so maybe they need to look at their own training schedule.
I’m not sure when they last won a trophy, so maybe as a club, their players need to toughen up a bit.
Keane went on to say that he "couldn't care less" about the opinion of Ronald Koeman. It must be pointed out that this anger is not restricted to Keane: Martin O'Neill yesterday said that he would call Donald Trump ahead of dialling up Koeman.
Now, Eamon Dunphy has deployed the Trump metaphor to take a pop at Keane. Dunphy believes that Keane is overly fond of the microphone, and having his personal views aired in public:
A reality TV star has been elevated to the US presidency. And Roy Keane is our Donald Trump. A reality TV star who never saw a microphone he didn't love.
Ireland international weeks should really be renamed as "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me In There".
Dunphy goes on to paint a compelling narrative: that Keane has become everything he used to hate.
The man who claims to abhor the showbiz element of football secretly loves being the centre of attention, in my opinion.
It's very hard to understand why Keane behaves this way. Maybe it's down to some element of narcissim in his personality.
The column is partly the quintessential Dunphy hyperbole, but he also makes an interesting point regarding the need for Ireland to retain good relations with Everton. You can read the full column in today's Star.
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