Somehow, one can sense that underneath that hard-nosed, tough mean guy exterior, there is a much gentler side lurking within Manchester United’s legendary bad-boy captain Roy Keane.<\/p>\n
Keane certainly ran a tight ship inside the Manchester United dressing room during their glory days under Fergie, and not all players in the team got on his good side, for sure.<\/p>\n
The Irishman\u2019s recent foray onto Instagram, coupled with his jovial relationship with pundit partner Micah Richards, seem to indicate that there is a possibility the Irishman is beginning to soften just a little and showing glimpses of a softer inside, despite his regular barrage of scyth-like quips and vitriolic criticisms saying otherwise.<\/p>\n
It now actually seems that United’s old barndoor skipper has always been a gentle soul at heart – with one of his ex-teammates, at least. And few would have predicted that out of all his colleagues in the United dressing room that none other than Phil Neville was Keane’s favoured member of the team.<\/p>\n
That assessment is according to Phil Neville anyhow.<\/p>\n
“He actually turned up to my wedding… and he would never turn up to anyone else’s wedding.<\/p>\n
“He turned up to mine and had a good time – and his kids went to school with my kids.<\/p>\n
“Every time I see him now, I think ‘he has a little bit of a soft spot for me’.”<\/p>\n
Unfortunately the same cannot be said for brother Gary, who seemed to enjoy being on the wrong side of Keane.<\/p>\n
Phil added: “I think because he hated Gary so much – he used to fight with Gary every day – he saw me as the nice one.”<\/p>\n
Much of Keane’s attitude can be attributed to his unrelenting desire to win, which proved to be a key backbone of United’s phenomenal success under Sir Alex Ferguson.<\/p>\n
Yet, surprisingly behind closed doors, his demeanor was very different from that of the growling menace on the pitch, as former United teammate Eric Djemba Djemba fondly recalls.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the dressing room, he [Keane] was a good guy. He was very affectionate,” Djemba-Djemba told The Sun.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut on the pitch\u2026. If you had a gun, you\u2019d want to shoot him. He\u2019d insult you, he\u2019d say anything and everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs soon as the game was finished, he was a different person. I preferred Keane in the dressing room rather than on the pitch. He was like that because he wanted to win.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes I\u2019d wear a diamond earring and Keane would say to me, \u2018What is this?\u2019 So before I got to the dressing room I removed it because I didn\u2019t want him to see it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember he used to shout at Kleberson, who was a very quiet guy who never spoke and was always laughing.<\/p>\n
“Keane would always shout at him, \u2018Wake up, you\u2019re not in Brazil now on the Copacabana. Run!\u2019”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"