Roy Keane's stint in charge of Sunderland may have brought early success, but it ultimately ended in acrimony for the Irishman.
Having been appointed manager in the summer of 2006, Keane led the Black Cats to the Premier League with an 88-point Championship season, and managed to keep the side in the top flight the following season.
Things began to unravel the following season, and Keane lasted only until December before exiting the role just before a Premier League clash with his old club Manchester United. Sunderland were 18th in the table at the time.
Keane has held only one managerial position since departing Sunderland, an ultimately doomed spell in charge of Ipswich in the early 2010s.
The Corkman reflected on his time in charge at the Stadium of Light during an episode of Stick to Football earlier this year. He revealed that, alongside Djibril Cissé, Frenchman Pascal Chimbonda was a player he regretted signing for the club.
I brought Pascal Chimbonda in when people said not to touch him...he came in and was hard work - and I'm being polite.
Chimbonda has now responded to Keane's comments, in an exclusive interview with Ladbrokes Fanzone.
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Pascal Chimbonda fires back after Roy Keane comments
North London Derby Ladbrokess Fanzone mural.
In the immediate aftermath of Roy Keane's departure from the Sunderland job, Pascal Chimbonda said he was happy to see the back of the Irishman, who had relegated him to the club's reserves.
Despite this, Chimbonda cannot understand why Keane publicly slated him earlier this year, saying that Keano had played a crucial role in bringing him to the club:
I loved how passionate he was and I understood what he expected from his players. The chat with him was good, and that's ultimately what helped me make my decision to sign for the club.
When he said, earlier this year, that signing me was a bad choice, I didn't understand it, to be honest. First of all, he called me to tell me he wanted me to come and play for Sunderland. Why did he do that, if people told him beforehand that it might not have been a good idea to sign me? You signed me because you know I'm a good footballer and maybe I could've done something special for you at Sunderland.
Things didn't go how he would have wanted because obviously he got sacked, you know. And then afterwards, he said he'd made a bad decision in signing me.
He signed so many players that summer, but he said that I was the bad choice. Why only me? I don't understand... he signed El Hadji Diouf, he signed Djibril Cisse, he signed Steed Malbranque, he signed Teemu Tainio... he signed so many players, but the one person who has to take the blame is me?
I don't understand his point of view there. Look, Roy is someone I respect, and I always will, because he won so much for Manchester United and captained his club and country.
You, as the manager, make your decision, and you know the players you are signing. It's always easy to blame someone else.
It certainly seems as though Keane's comments got under Chimbonda's skin.
The former Spurs man went on to claim that Keane was seldom in attendance at the club's training sessions, saying that his regular absence made it hard for the players to develop a meaningful relationship with him.
We never had a relationship, really. It's not like he was someone you'd see every day; we'd see him only once in the week... when we had a game. Then, maybe, we'd see him next Thursday, or Friday, when he'd pick the team. But we'd never see him on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday in training.
You can't have a relationship with a manager when you never see him. That's not really something I was used to seeing, by the way.
I think he's in the right job now, as a pundit, rather than being a manager. Like I said, I think that if you're managing a team, you have to spend as much time with the players as you can, throughout the week.
At the minute, the job he's doing is perfect for him because he's passionate about what he's saying, but I don't think he was passionate about coaching, or being on the pitch with his players, day in, day out.
Strong words indeed, as Roy Keane continues to be linked with a return to management with the Republic of Ireland men's team.
Despite all of this, Chimbonda said that he did not want to say "anything bad about Roy," suggesting that the issue was not that their relationship soured - simply that there was no relationship.
Pascal Chimbonda was speaking at Ladbrokes Fanzone's North London Derby mural
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