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All good things must come to an end in football but sometimes those involved do their best to ensure that ending comes sooner than planned. Roy Keane did just that on this day in 2005, launching into a rant which left him with no way back at Manchester United. Keane had started the 2005/06 season as United captain, starting four of the first five league matches under Sir Alex Ferguson. He then spent some time on the sidelines with a broken foot, meaning he was unable to contribute for the Red Devils as they aimed to improve on the previous season’s third-place finish.
United took seven points from their first four outings without Keane before heading to the Riverside Stadium to face Middlesbrough. Things went horribly for them on Teesside, though, with Gaizka Mendieta scoring twice in a 4-1 win for Steve McClaren’s team. Keane, in his absence, had been filming a segment on MUTV entitled ‘Roy Keane Plays The Pundit’ - a precursor to the actual punditry work he would embark on after retirement. After the Boro game, though, he tore into the players with such venom that the club reportedly sought to destroy all copies of the tape.
Ferguson’s team delivered a response on the pitch, going unbeaten across their next 11 games in the league. They eventually finished as runners-up to Chelsea and won the League Cup, though they had a miserable Champions League campaign as they finished bottom of their group with just three goals scored.
Keane’s United career was effectively over pretty much immediately, though, with the Irish international moving to Celtic in the January transfer window. However, the episode did arguably set himself up well for a post-playing career in the studio.
Despite the backlash, Keane later claimed the criticism was received a little differently by his team-mates. "They were all going: ‘Yeah, Yeah’. Not one of them had an issue. Not one,” he said. "Even now people still say: "The video had to be destroyed". Like it was a nuclear weapon or something."
Even so, the kind of criticism which has become commonplace in his current role was seen by some as less acceptable when his colleagues were the target. Here’s what Keane said on MUTV after that humbling in the north east.
On Edwin van der Sar: "He should have saved that (a 30-yard goal from Gaizka Mendieta). That was saveable."
On John O’Shea: "He's just strolling around when he should have been busting a gut to get back."
On Rio Ferdinand: "I have seen that happen to Rio before [after Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink robbed Ferdinand for the second goal]. It is poor defending. Just because you are paid £120,000 a week and play well for 20 minutes against Tottenham you think you are a superstar."
On Darren Fletcher: "I can't understand why people in Scotland rave about Darren Fletcher."
On Kieran Richardson: "He is a lazy defender who deserved to get punished.. he wasn't doing his job."
On Alan Smith: "What is he doing there? He is wandering around as if he is lost. He doesn't know what he is doing."
On United’s youngsters: "When they sign the contracts, they think they have made it. They owe it to the manager, the staff and the fans. They think they have made it. They haven't."
On the experienced members of the squad: "The younger players have been let down by some of the more experienced ones - they are not leading. There is a shortage of characters.
"It seems to be in this club you have to play badly to be rewarded. Maybe that is what I should do when I come back - play badly."
On the defeat at Middlesbrough on the whole: "I wasn't surprised by the result I had been expecting one like this. The players have been asked questions and they are just not coming up with the answers.
"I am sick of having to say it and they are sick of listening to me. They have let down the club, the manager, and the fans."
On not blaming injuries: "The fact they are out should be enough incentive for those coming in to play better and give more
"It is not enough to play well for 20 minutes, it is a 90-minute game. You get well rewarded but you have to put the hard work to earn those rewards."
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