Keane and Ferguson – ‘The Deconstruction Of A Hero & Megalomaniac’

Megalomania: a pathological condition characterised by delusions of power, relevance, or omnipotence. Is characterised by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs.

(I think its prudent to make some points clear from the start…..Personally, I have no problem with Roy Keane’s comments after the Basel match. I think any criticism of the club or the team is valid, and I have no interest in ‘head in the sand’ fans who think MUFC can do no wrong. I also believe the manager was out of order in his press conference about Roy’s management record. There was no need to say that, but in defense he was asked a question and he answered it with a throw away ten second rebuff. Hardly anything to get over excited about in the grand scheme of things to leave Ferguson’s mouth.)

It is the day after Roy Keane’s ‘right of reply’ via a national newspaper two page spread.

We’ve all read it and we all have different slants on it.

When a man and his son fall out it’s a tragic thing. But Keane was never Ferguson’s boy. Keane was a leader of men. Sir Alex recognised this. Keane thrived on drama and war. Again, the manager gave him all the toys to be able to live out his fantasies. And eventually the inevitable happened…as it always does in a footballer’s life: The day comes when you no longer are of use to the club. For some like the Djemba Djembas of this world, you end up being smuggled out in a dark glassed car, and we pretend they never really happened. For others, such as Neville and Scholes, we get the trumpets and the fanfare in full flow. And we praise them like we should. Glitter and gold and tears of endearment. Forever in our hearts and souls.

There is no need to retell the story of Roy Keane’s last days at Old Trafford. We know what happened. Roy opened his mouth one too many times, and as soon as Fergie sensed that this bile could affect his plans for the club….he got rid. He did it to Van Nistelrooy…when he realised the senior pro’s criticisms had a detrimental effect on a young Ronaldo, who had recently lost his father. Ruud was quickly on his way out for a reduced fee to Madrid. Sir Alex makes a choice…and he sticks with it. Cross him…and you are Jaap Stam on toast to him.

So now Keano has had his say on all matters Ferguson. He reckons that Sir Alex doesn’t always put United first. He reckons that how dare he be lectured on loyalty by Sir Alex’s assistant, as that assistant had been disloyal to the club. He reckons the club lied to him, that Fergie has had the knives sharpened via the club lawyers and blah blah blah blah blah.

Roy Keane left us in 2005. The way he is reacting you would think it was last month.

Without dissecting every word of Keane in his interview yesterday, I think it’s better to look at colour and shape. Keane alludes that without players like him then Fergie would not be remembered the way he is and will be. Correct. But he fails to acknowledge that Sir Alex helped shape who he was…what he became…as opposed to the Blackburn Rovers legend that Kenny Dalglish would have made him. The tone of Keane’s words smatter with pangs of bitterness. Theres lots of “Oh I don’t blame Man Utd bits…” but the fact remains is that ‘Blame’ is Keane’s favourite game. Go ask Alf-Inge Haaland.

Roy Keane is the original grudge specialist. As a player Ferguson taped into this. When Patrick Viera thought he would bully our legendary right back, it was the captain in front of the cameras that jabbed the finger and said “I will see you outside”…we loved all that. And so did Keane. When you read Roy Keane’s brilliant autobiography the one thing that never is in doubt as you pass page to page, is that the man who is driven like no other, also carries a demon on his shoulder…one he will never shake…even as a 40 year old man now. He never forgets. He claims to always speak the truth…but this is Roy Keane’s truth…not neccesarily truth in reality…the reality we all live in, and he does not reside in.

I’m embarrassed and disappointed in Keane’s choice to use a national newspaper to publically defame the manager, and inadvertently (or maybe not so)…cause harm to United. Keane seems ‘bothered’ what we think about him. That if Fergie has a go at him that we will automatically take the managers word for it. So to him, the best solution is to do what Roy Keane does….run his mouth in as damaging fashion as possible. It saddens me that despite acknowledging he would like nothing more than to visit Old Trafford to watch games with his son, and knowing the club and the fans would welcome him with open arms, that his faux megalomania….where Roy Keane and his issues always come first, stops him…I guess someone else will have to take Roy’s kid to see his football team play? It is also very sad that he didn’t see fit to attend Sir Alex’s 25 years celebrations…that he was personally invited to. Once again his ego and his pride meant more than honouring a huge milestone in the club’s history….and he wonders why Sir Alex has little time for him as a man now??

Keane the footballer will always be remembered at United. We can never forget what he did in our colours. But Keane the man…I have no interest in for the future. He feels that Fergie executes “power and control” over all his ex players and wishes to do this to him? I say: well break away Roy! Dont cry about it! All those ex players RESPECT what Ferguson did for them. It appears Keane does not share this respect. Van Nistelrooy and Stam have both made their peace with the manager now, because that is what grown men do. But I think Sir Alex understands the bridges are burned with Roy…so he is not gonna waste his energy.

Keane alludes he has more affinity with the late Brian Clough….and I agree. Clough for all his genius turned to the bottle as his powers faded and his own demons dragged himdown. At 70 years old…which ever element powers and fuels Alex Ferguson… is still there. It burns bright. At thirty years Roy Keane’s senior…the manager is still more vital and relevant than his old pupil. Maybe that’s hard for Roy boy to take?? Roy muses: “I look back at the relationship and I sometimes wonder if it wasn’t about me being good for him and good for the club. People say he stood by me in difficult times. But not when I was 34″…But what about when you were younger Roy? When you were out on the lash getting drunk and falling out of pubs and nightclubs? I think the manager did plenty for the player.

The newspaper interview states: “He (Keane) understands by publicly talking about his broken relationship with Ferguson that he will worsen an already difficult situation. This, he can accept because the alternative meant not standing up for himself; that is to say not being Roy Keane.

Those sentences explain all you need to know about Roy Keane………”worsen an already difficult situation”…not help reconcile it.

Keane’s status as a United legend remains unaffected and intact. But any future affections remain corked in a bottle….and left on the top shelf. Our consideration is the Manchester United of the present and future. Roy Keane represents United past. We are not Liverpool. We only look forward, and not back.

Like this article? Follow Rob B on Twitter




About Steve Ferguson 886 Articles
Steve Ferguson had taken over & re-branded The Faithful MUFC website back in the summer of 2014 and is now the owner and editor of the site. Steve, from Ashton-Under-Lyne in Greater Manchester, is a 35-year-old life long Manchester United fan, travelling over the globe to see the Reds play. Steve has been lucky enough to be at both the 1999 and 2008 Champions League finals, seeing Manchester United lift the biggest trophy in the World, none more exciting than that faithful night in Barcelona in 99. The website is a blog, but also hopes to deliver the latest Manchester United news from around the internet too, linked up with our growing twitter account which is @TheFaithfulMUFC, give it a follow as we will follow you back as soon as we can.

5 Comments

  1. You say Roy Keane is a leader of men – and that to me begs a question? Was he a leader of men when he deserted a whole team of Irish players just before a WC causing chaos to Irish WC plans? I think not as I ponder that not one Irish team player, FA or Irish fans got in line behind him. Was he a good example to young people when he openly admits his toxic attitude to Haaland – who he had hated and determined the day would come when he would get revenge and attempt to cripple him with the most obscene of tackles? Is he leading any of the United faIthful to get behind him in his vendetta and agenda to try and destroy Fergie’s reputation by bringing up things that happened within the club out into the public arena? Did Fergie ever do that to any of his players with toxic venom as Keane is doing – I again think not. Fergie is not without his faults – but he is more loyal to his players thru the bad times than Keane will ever be. Keane just can’t let go and move on. Regardless of what you think of the latest Keane outburst in response to his hurt pride – Keane has been badmouthing the club since he left – couldn’t wait to find any opportunity to have a go. I think you got the right word with MEGOLOMANIAC! When will poor little whining Keane grow up. Great great player – but very far from great man IMHO.

  2. I read the interview yesterday morning and was very surprised by my twitter feed going crazy about it. I was disappointed that Keane had chosen to put his words into a newspaper article but for me I still cannot help but draw similarities between the two characters. I also sense there is still respect amongst the two, even though they might not right now be so keen to admit it especially right now! They both are stubborn in character and can both hold a grudge that could last a lifetime. Keane is still a United legend to me and will always be so and as for SAF… all the words under the sun could not explain my feelings towards him with everything he has brought to the club.

    One last thought… if Sir Alex hasn’t really cared about United and not put us first well… we’ve not done bad have we? 😉

    I think actually Keane’s article has come just at the right time. But we’ll just have to wait and see how our Christmas run goes 😉

  3. i totally disagree with you,we have a past that should always be refered to otherwise we ll have no future,kean is symbolic in that respect and should be respected as a man with rights. Fergie should learn to retrogress a little and he ll be more of a fatherly figure to even stoborn people like kean. We ll all like him lhke that. He cant always have his way. He had it once with kean but perharps he can continue teaching people like kean off the pitch.

  4. Let Keane criticize the team. Remember when he criticized Rooney, Ronaldo, Fletcher, O’ Shea and the other players in the team? The same group of players won 3 league titles straight including a champions league just a few years later. God knows what can happen to this batch of players now that they’ve been ‘blessed’ by Keane! XD

  5. that was really an amazing read. spot on.

    when I think of all the great things Keane did at United, They too were about himself and not United. Turin you say? he did it because he wanted to be a ledgend. and he became one.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*