The Manchester United legends have scuffed their hands after years of ‘he said, he said’ mud-slinging
This November will mark a decade since Roy Keane left Manchester United by ‘mutual consent’. A forthright interview with the club’s in-house TV channel was long cited as the tipping point between Alex Ferguson and his captain but trouble had been brewing for quite some time at Old Trafford.
Autobiographies – two for Keane, one (and an update) for Ferguson – have since shed light on the pair’s relationship. There seems to be no end to the friction between the Cork native and the man he calls ‘Ferguson’. Indeed, Keane has only been back to Old Trafford twice (manager of Sunderland and a 2007 testimonial).
Former United midfielder, Norman Whiteside says the ongoing feud is doing nothing for all parties involved. He told us, ‘I haven’t got a clue what went on between them. As long as Roy doesn’t bring the club’s name because Roy is such a legend. To start letting people call him the wrong thing would disappoint me.
‘Whatever fall-out out they’ve had, I just hope they can settle it. It just saddens me, when people do fall out like that. Roy’s Roy though. I don’t know what makes him tick but if he wants to come out and have a go, he must feel that he has a reason.’
Whiteside, who was in Dublin to promote Setanta Sports’ extensive FA Cup coverage this weekend [details below], reveals he was offered £50,000 by a tabloid, in 1989, when Ferguson released him from the club.
He says, ‘That was some amount of money back then. One piece, fifty grand. I didn’t do it and he (Ferguson) knows that. I wouldn’t have done it anyway. But, I’ve certainly earned more, doing corporate work at Old Trafford, than I would have earned from that story.
‘That was not in my nature anyway, to slag people off. He knows I didn’t do it; Manchester United know I didn’t do it, and I’m welcome back there, to this day. It was a wise choice.’
One aspect of Keane’s departure that Whiteside is sure of, is Ferguson’s failure to replace his midfield talisman with a world-class player.
He adds, ‘For about 13 years, Bryan Robson was captain, for another 12, Roy was captain [and leader]. Manchester United have been the luckiest club in the world, to have 25 years, a quarter of a century, with the two best centre midfielders in the world, certainly in the country. They’ve probably not replaced them – a player with their determination down the middle.
As for Ferguson, the Northern Irishman recalls slagging the Scot over his role in David Moyes’ appointment. He comments, ‘Fergie was getting a lot of stick from the Scottish papers, and from Tommy Doherty I think. There were two-page spreads, about Fergie, with ‘This is your fault’ and ‘Stay away from Old Trafford’.
‘Well, every time I bumped into him I was slagging. When the girl (air hostess) went by with the drinks trolley, I’d tap her on the shoulder and say, ‘It’s all his fault’. If someone was picking up his luggage at the airport, I’d tell him, ‘It’s all his fault’. It was the constant joke but, still, it was the most relaxed I’ve ever seen him. Like the weight is off his shoulders now.’
*Whiteside was joined by Liverpool legend, Neil Ruddock at an event in Dublin, today, to highlight the upcoming FA Cup fixtures on the Setanta Sports pack. The weekend’s action includes Manchester United’s trip to Cambridge United, on Friday, the matches between Manchester City and Middlesbrough, and Liverpool and Bolton on Saturday, as well as the game between Brighton and Hove Albion and current FA Cup holders Arsenal on Sunday.
The Setanta Sports pack has five channels in total including Setanta Ireland, Setanta Sports 1, BT Sport 1, BT Sport 2 and ESPN.
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