Roy Keane managed to annoy a lot of Liverpool fans with his comments last week.
Following Liverpool’s 3-0 victory over Maribor at Anfield in the Champions League, Keane offered a damning assessment of Jurgen Klopp’s team. The former Manchester United captain dismissed their chances of success for the season and said that Liverpool are “drifting” and “going nowhere fast.”
“I think if Liverpool were playing out in my back garden, I wouldn’t watch them,” Keane said on ITV’s highlights show.
Keane’s comments didn’t go down well with Liverpool fans, who felt the Irishman ignored the match he had just watched in favour of making a sweeping statement about the club. He was back to his day job on Tuesday, and the Republic of Ireland’s assistant manager was asked about his comments at a press conference ahead of the country’s World Cup play-off with Denmark.
Keane said that his views on Liverpool were “tongue in cheek” and that he has the utmost respect for the club.
Roy Keane asked about his comment that he wouldn't watch Liverpool if they were playing in his back garden – 'It was a bit of tongue in cheek. Anyone who has ever talked to me about football will know the huge respect I have for Liverpool.'
— Dion Fanning (@dionfanning) November 7, 2017
“My comments were tongue in cheek and hopefully people will see it that way. People should lighten up a little,” Keane told reporters, referring to anyone who took issue with what he said.
The former Sunderland and Ipswich Town manager also played down suggestions that he intends to become a first-team manager again anytime soon.
“It’s tough being a manager out there at the moment, that’s why I’m better off staying here,” he said.
“It’s par for the course, managers not getting enough time and getting pre-judged. There is a lot of media spin about certain managers out there, a lot of good PR for some managers. Some get away with murder.”
