Ever wondered what Keano really thinks of Adrian Chiles?
Roy Keane has admitted that working on television was too easy for him and he felt bad for “talking bullshit like the rest of them.”
Writing in his new book The Second Half, Keane says he got on well with ITV presenter Adrian Chiles and fellow pundit Lee Dixon but hinted that the role was beneath his capabilities.
“Once we were at Juventus – they were playing Chelsea. We were standing at the corner flag and Adrian (Chiles) was next to me. He goes: “This is great isn’t it?” I went: “I used to play in these games Adrian”. I wasn’t being cocky.”
Keane fails to reconcile his former role within the game with viewing it from a television studio.
“It’s about justification, what you stand for,” Keane writes.
“When I was at United I was getting paid good money but I could go: “Yeah, but I’m giving it back to you”. I didn’t feel that way with this TV work.
“It’s an easy gig. I don’t like easy gigs. When I heard: “I liked your commentary last night”. I knew I was only talking bulls*** like the rest of them. Hopefully my bulls*** was a bit better. I wanted to do something that excited me. TV work didn’t excite me.
“I liked Adrian and Lee Dixon, though. What I really enjoyed was the company. I liked meeting people, old players like Liverpool’s Jan Molby.
“Some United fans saw us together and one of them said: “Why the f*** are you talking to him?” I felt like saying: “I will speak to who I f***ing want to!”
The Class of ’92
Meanwhile, Keane has stuck the boot into the Class of ’92 – the six players who came to define Manchester United’s achievements from the early ’90s up until Ryan Giggs’ retirement last season – insisting that they were now ‘a brand’ whose contribution to the success of the club had been exaggerated.
“The Class of ’92 – all good players but their role at the club has been exaggerated,” he says.
“The Class of ’92 seems to have grown its own legs. It has become a brand. It’s as if they were a team away from a team and they are not shy of plugging in to it.”
Keane does admit, however, that Messrs Giggs, Scholes, Beckham, Butt and the two Nevilles had a good attitude when it came to football and does not think the same spirit exists in the United dressing room now.
“I wonder about the current United dressing room,” said Keane. “When a manager like Sir Alex Ferguson is replaced the new man needs a helping hand. Does that mean every player should like him? No.
“But I look at the current players and they should be doing a lot better. Not liking a manager can never be an excuse for not going out and doing your best.
“Looking at what happened to David Moyes, I can only conclude that he didn’t have a strong dressing room. He had a weak dressing room.”
