Roy Keane has never been one to mince his words. Whether it was on the football pitch, directly to a rival’s face, or in the media post-retirement, the Irishman has always been more than willing to dish out his honest opinion of anyone.
Having been involved in many heated battles on the pitch, the Manchester United legend is still viewed as one of the hardest footballers to have ever graced the Premier League. From his legendary engine room brawls with Patrick Vieira to his extremely public fallout with Republic of Ireland teammate Mick McCarthy, the fiery captain never backed down.
While he’s mellowed significantly during his punditry career – often showing off a softer side to his personality – there’s still one feud Keane still holds to this day. One man he clashed with on the pitch, even resulting in a red card, was Newcastle and England superstar Alan Shearer.
Roy Keane on ‘Nasty’ Alan Shearer’s Tactics on the Pitch
Speaking on the most recent episode of The Overlap, Keane weighed in on the debate about the best English strikers of all time. The 54-year-old gave a less-than-flattering opinion of Shearer, who was compared to Wayne Rooney, Harry Kane and Michael Owen.
Telling Gary Neville why he was never a fan of the Newcastle icon, Keane recalled the physical nature of Shearer’s game. The midfielder-turned-pundit claimed:
“Shearer was sneaky, sneaky elbows. I didn’t admire people who were nasty, I don’t like nasty people.”
Not backing down from his point, the Red Devils legend continued: “He was nasty, with sneaky elbows in the back of the head. (Eric) Cantona, (Andy) Cole, all these strikers that I played with weren’t sneaky, (they were) good honest pros.”
Alan Shearer Has ‘Utmost Respect’ For Old Foe Keane
While there’s still a degree of tension between the pair, especially from Keane’s perspective, that doesn’t mean there’s no respect. In fact, Shearer went on record to praise his old rival as a player and express his admiration for the seven-time Premier League champion, despite the heated exchanges over the years. He said (per Sky Sports):
“I’ve got the utmost respect for Roy Keane. He epitomises everything about the game, he doesn’t like losing – and rightly so – but that’s what makes him such a great player.
“Sometimes he loses his temper but if you took that away he wouldn’t be the player he is and I admire him for that. I didn’t want to get involved, I was just trying to be professional and waste a bit of time, but that’s football.”
The biggest clash between the two iconic players came in a match between Newcastle and Man United at St James’ Park in late 2001. Keane reacted angrily to a shove by Shearer in the closing stages with the Magpies leading 4-3.