Roy Keane wasn't one for exchanging pleasantries with opposition players during his playing days. He treated every game like he was going into war, meaning there was no chance that he would be cosying up to his enemies before, during, or after a game.
That attitude only got sterner over the course of his career. Even his own teammates could be at the receiving end of it on occasion, with the Cork man falling out with quite a few people inside his own club or national team down through the years.
When it comes to traditional things like swapping shirts, he had no time for the practice.
Roy Keane throws dig at Gary Neville over swapping shirts
Roy Keane and Gary Neville were speaking on The Overlap, this week, looking ahead to the FA Cup final between Manchester City and Manchester United on Saturday afternoon.
The conversation turned to occasions where they swapped shirts on the famous Champions League nights that Manchester United were involved in, with the Irishman unable to resist a hilarious dig at his old teammate.
Neville: He wasn't having swapping shirts in Europe.
Keane: Europe wasn't too bad, but not in a league game.
Neville: I got a few in my early days. I got Brazilian Ronaldo, I got Paolo Maldini.
Keane: And they got yours? Jesus, that's not a good swap for them is it? It's not good for them
Neville: I got Roberto Carlos, I got Allesandro del Piero. I stopped then, I think it was around the time when Roy and the manager had a problem with it. I just thought 'it's not worth the hassle'.
Keane: I never bothered with shirts. I don't think it was a good thing to be chasing players and swapping shirts.
Brilliant.
Roy Keane has actually spoken about this practice in the past.
When appearing on The Overlap a couple of years ago, he was asked if he ever requested to swap shirts with a players. He recalled doing so on one occasion, although the experience was enough to turn him off going forward.
I've asked one player to swap a jersey, which I regret.
We played Germany with Ireland, pre World Cup 94 in a friendly. It was after the game, and we beat them to be fair.
He was walking off and I was only being polite. It was the sweeper, [Matthias] Sammer, and he said no. I went 'ya fucking p***k' anyway.
That was it. I just thought 'I shouldn't be asking anybody'. I was only being polite, it's not that I wanted his jersey.
That was enough for him.
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