Rio Ferdinand explained what happened between Roy Keane and Sir Alex Ferguson after the former’s famous MUTV rant.
Keane enjoyed an illustrious and trophy-laden career at United, making over 400 appearances for the club.
However, his time at United came to an abrupt end after Keane was scathing of United’s performance in a 4-1 defeat against Middlesbrough, singling out Ferdinand, John O'Shea, Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson and Darren Fletcher in particular.
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Commenting on Ferdinand's performance, Keane said: “Just because you are paid £120,000-a-week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham, you think you are a superstar.”
United manager Ferguson was furious with Keane’s interview and stopped the footage from being broadcast.
Ferdinand has since revealed that Ferguson called the team into his office to watch the video, which led to tensions rising even further between the manager and Keane.
Speaking on the Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE YouTube channel, Ferdinand explained: “We play a game on a Saturday, and a player gets nominated on MUTV to do analysis of that game.
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“We get beat by Middlesbrough, everyone plays rubbish. Roy Keane does the video analysis and destroys the whole team, including me. He goes through people individually and hammers them.
“The manager, before it goes out, gets wind of it, cancels it going out, says it ain't going out anywhere, that is a disgrace, it can't happen.
“Calls a meeting at the training ground, we all go into the manager's office, watch it and the manager goes off. It's a movie in itself, everyone's cringing. The manager's going ‘How dare you, I'm the only one who should speak about our players publicly.'”
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According to Ferdinand, Ferguson subsequently told the squad that Keane would not play for the club again, with the Ireland midfielder departing United two weeks later, signing for Celtic.
Ferdinand added that there was “some mad stuff” said between Keane and the coaching staff during the altercation.
He said: “Roy has a go back, it kicks off between the coach and Roy again, some mad stuff said. The next day we go into training, the manager calls a meeting as we go on the training pitch and says, ‘Just so you know Roy Keane will never play for this football club again.'”
When asked what message Ferguson’s decision sent to the rest of the team, Ferdinand said: “Shiver me timbers. Do not **** with this guy, do not mess with Sir Alex. This guy is the truth. This guy is the coldest dude about. This is our captain, this is a legend of the football club, a phenomenal player, and a great guy to have around the place when the chips are down. You know you can look to your right and go, ‘Roy, where do we go now?’
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“The manager says not on my watch, this ain't happening. My man is done, he's done. He's doing that, he will never wear this kit again, looking around and all of a sudden he goes, let's go and train.
“I know some man's legs were flaky after that on the way over, like spaghetti on the way to the training pitch, because Sir Alex Ferguson's cold, you've got to be cold in those situations.”
Featured Image Credit: Getty/Vibe with Five via YouTubeTopics: Football, Rio Ferdinand, Roy Keane, Manchester United, Sir Alex Ferguson