What a first day.
It didn’t take long for sports psychologist Bill Beswick to realise what kind of character he’d be dealing with when it came to Roy Keane.
A notorious perfectionist, Keane gave Beswick some very early insight into how he conducted himself on the training pitch as he roared at teammate Denis Irwin during the very first training session observed by Beswick.
Having been brought on board by Alex Ferguson, Beswick quickly found out just how much winning meant to the Irish midfielder during a training match.
Speaking to Keep It On The Deck, Beswick confirmed everybody’s suspicion that Keane didn’t just reserve his aggression for matchdays.
“The first day I went to Manchester United, I was watching eight versus eight possession,” said Beswick.
“Roy Keane – who’s a warrior, not just an athlete, not just a competitor but a warrior, the mindset of a warrior – his team have got possession.
“Denis Irwin has got the ball. He’s looking up, he’s trapped, he’s going to lose the ball.
“Roy Keane makes a beautiful run and signals ‘Denis!’ where he wants the ball. Denis doesn’t see him, doesn’t hear him, doesn’t respond and loses the ball.
“Roy Keane ran 40 yards to challenge his teammate: ‘Get your head up.’ I was shocked.”
Ferguson made no attempt to calm his captain down and, in fact, he seemed delighted that Beswick had witnessed the incident firsthand as it highlighted how high the standards were at Old Trafford.
“I was stood next to Alex Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United,” Beswick added.
“He said son, ‘Now you know why we win on a Saturday. We win on a Saturday because we have the mindset to train every day.'”
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