Roy Keane's infamous feud with compatriot Jason McAteer was reignited this week after Keane dissected all of the red cards he had received through his career on a segment on 'The Overlap.'
Keane, Gary Neville, Ian Wright, and Jill Scott looked back at some of the dismissals they had received down through the years, and Keane ruffled a few feathers in defending himself for the aggression he displayed on more than one occasion during his career.
He seemed to let his true feelings about Gareth Southgate shine through when saying that the current England manager "deserved" the stamp Keane left on him in the 1995 FA Cup semi-final, while he also made the slightly egregious suggestion that his infamous hit on Alf-Inge Haaland wasn't as bad as it is widely accepted to have been.
The one that seems to have touched a nerve, however, was his dissection of his elbow on former Ireland teammate Jason McAteer during a Premier League clash between Manchester United and Sunderland in 2003/04.
The pair have famously always been on good terms.
Keane suggested that he and McAteer had never been "mates" despite lining out together for Ireland on numerous occasions and, when Balls tweeted the clip of the discussion, McAteer made his feelings abundantly clear.
Love it. Players shouting their mouths off !!! Funny You can’t shut the clown up now. And no we weren’t team -mates cause he never showed up and when he did he went home !!!! Please !!!!! Bore off. https://t.co/ysPu1H5Ry9
— Jason Mcateer (@MCATEER4) November 17, 2023
The former Liverpool midfielder would go on to interact with several fans who responded to his tweet, and would echo Keane's suggestion that the pair had never been "mates."
McAteer appeared on beIN Sports' coverage of the EURO 2024 qualifier between the Netherlands and Ireland, and the clash between the pair was raised - with McAteer going on an extraordinary and bizarre rant about the relationship between the pair.
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Jason McAteer gives extraordinary rant against Roy Keane on beIN Sports
Roy Keane's elbow on Jason McAteer came less than two years after the events of Saipan, and in the aftermath of the release of his explosive autobiography - ghost written by Eamon Dunphy.
"I knew what buttons to press that day, I knew I could get into his head!"@MCATEER4 explains how he got Roy Keane sent off against Sunderland, and reveals that he hopes to bury the hatchet with his former Ireland team-mate. #beINPL #MUFC #LFC pic.twitter.com/mFtPN7QVga
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) November 18, 2023
In a remarkable rant on beIN Sports on Saturday evening, McAteer revealed what he had said to rile Keane up that day - with Eamon Dunphy catching an unfortunate stray midway through the tirade.
McAteer said that he knew how to get in Keane's head that day and, after listing a littany of reasons why Keane's actions that day and following it had disappointed him, he then seemed to flip-flop and suggest that he wanted to mend their relationship:
I knew what buttons to press that day, I knew that if we were going to win a game, my battle in midfield against Roy Keane, one of the greatest players, was to get in his head. I knew how to get in his head, and that's what my mentality was, it was to upset him verbally.
We clashed in the middle of the park, his book had just come out - again, he was derogatory in his book. He let Eamon Dunphy of all people write his book. Eamon Dunphy.
I was a little bit sad about what he'd said and he told me what he was going to do to me during the clash and I said to him, 'put it in your next book, I'll read it Roy.' I mimicked writing a book.
He waited until the last ten seconds of the game and ran past me. It was cheap, he's better than that. He elbowed me on the side of the head as he walked past me.
To say he didn't do it or he didn't catch me is wrong - but to say I 'deserved' it is assault.
I'd rather him come in here now and we say, 'let's just let bygones be bygones and be civil.' Or we can get in a ring for a million pounds each and fight it out.
The rant from McAteer did not stop there, with the Irishman going on for a further five plus minutes, as he dug himself even deeper into the trenches against his ex-teammate. During that extended segment, McAteer acknowledged the Balls tweet which he had responded to, suggesting he was frustrated to have seen the feud drawn into the limelight again.
We'll be honest, we didn't think we'd see the day where a Balls tweet would lead to a segment on Qatari TV.
For your viewing pleasure, the full seven minute rant is included below.
📽️ Watch in full @MCATEER4 hits back at comments from Roy Keane on their fractious relationship in the Ireland national team. #beINPL #MUFC #LFC pic.twitter.com/hPezf0tpeL
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_EN) November 18, 2023
We await Roy Keane's response with bated breath.
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