13 December 2023 , 13:53
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Roy Keane has accused Manchester United of letting players get away with "disgraceful" behaviour over the years, citing his own experience of treatment from Sir Alex Ferguson.
The midfielder joined United from Nottingham Forest for a then-British record transfer fee of £3.75million in 1993. Keane cemented himself as a first-team regular at Old Trafford, making 54 appearances in all competitions in his debut campaign as the Red Devils won the FA Cup and Premier League.
Having played a total of 480 matches in a United shirt, Keane departed the club in 2005 to join Celtic after winning 12 major honours. During his time in Manchester, Keane played with many different players and oversaw several difficult situations, including Jaap Stam's shock exit in 2001 and Paul Ince's departure in 1995.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane has blamed United for "trying to kick you out the door" after Ferguson let some "players off the hook". Stam was controversially sold to Lazio, while Ince joined Inter Milan after reportedly falling out with Ferguson.
Keane said: "I talk about this justified angle when you feel like you've done nothing wrong [to be let go by a club]. I felt I'd done nothing wrong, Incy [Paul Ince], and then you see players over the last 15, 20 years at Manchester United – even when [Sir Alex] Ferguson was there – do a lot worse and the manager would almost just let them off the hook.
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"Whereas there’s certain players where I look back going, 'what we were supposed to have done wrong is very little, yet they're trying to kick you out the door'.
"There's other players whose behaviour, even when I was there, I'm thinking 'this is a disgrace what the other lads were up to'. The manager would go 'no, I’ll let them off with that'. It’s a joke!"
Roy Keane has accused Manchester United of treating players like a "disgrace" (Getty Images)Keane then further doubled down on his point and slammed the way United have let players leave over the past couple of decades, though he did also praise the club. Ferguson left the Red Devils in 2013 after a trophy-laden 26-year stint, with David Moyes taking over.
"Manchester United are a great club, brilliant club, but the way they’ve treated players over the years and the way they’ve let players go – Jaap [Stam]’s not the first or the last that I’ve heard from – it’s absolutely disgraceful," Keane added. "Paul Ince – there’s loads of others. A lot of these players who probably didn't think they’d done anything wrong. They were good pros and all that. I know sometimes you have to move players on.
"I said to Paul Ince, you didn’t have to leave, you’ve got a contract. I think Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] had the chance to leave, he said no. But when the manager is saying that to you, and you’re so hurt, and obviously you’ve got your pride, it’s hard to stay."