Manchester United icon Roy Keane has suggested the European players need to toughen up…
There’s not much on which Roy Keane doesn’t have an opinion.
The Irish soccer legend – who spent most of his career at Manchester United, playing 480 times and winning 12 major trophies with the club, as well as winning 67 caps for his country – is enjoying a second career behind the microphone.
Much like his playing days, Keane’s punditry is often delivered in a hard-hitting and no-nonsense style, and the 54-year-old is never afraid to say what’s on his mind.
And, in this week’s episode of Stick to Football, a podcast Keane co-hosts with fellow soccer stars Ian Wright, Gary Neville, Jamie Carragher, and Jill Scott, he was asked for his opinion on the Ryder Cup. Specifically, how the players dealt with the abuse dished out by the American fans at Bethpage.
The New York crowd’s No.1 target, Rory McIlroy, said ahead of the DP World India Championship – his first appearance since the 15-13 victory – that golf needs to be careful or it runs the risk of “losing centuries of traditions and values”.
But Keane was having none of it – and suggested McIlroy and co should try playing football for Manchester United at arch-rivals Liverpool’s Anfield stadium or Leeds’ Elland Road.
“I’m no expert on golf, but you are telling me these players were under pressure because a few people were shouting?” Keane said.
“Come to Leeds or Anfield on a Tuesday night, let me tell you. These guys play in big tournaments every week, so all of a sudden they are going to be upset by a few Yanks? You’ve got McIlroy, he’s won all the big prizes. Do you think he’s going to be upset by a few people? It’s ridiculous.”
Keane, who joked that the Ryder Cup was “over after two hours” due to Europe’s early dominance, also took aim at the players’ wives and girlfriends for showing up in such a hostile environment.
McIlroy’s wife, Erica, had to listen to fans chanting about the couple’s highly-publicized personal life throughout, while she also had a beer thrown at her at one point.
Keane, whose tongue was largely wedged firmly in his cheek throughout, continued: “If I was a golfer and my partner was getting abuse, I’d tell them, ‘Just stay at the hotel, love. I’ll see you tonight when I get back.’ They don’t come to all the other tournaments. But, guess what, you get a new outfit and you come to the Ryder Cup! Stay at home! You’ve got a lovely new outfit, a new belt, a new handbag, and they are getting loads of stick. Well, go home. I can guarantee, they are going back to a nice hotel, they are not in a tent.
“They knew it was coming. It’s been built up for the last six months. ‘Wait until you come to America.’ Of course they knew they were going to get abused.”
In regards to McIlroy biting back at fans, Keane added: “Well he shouldn’t be swearing, either, should he?”
McIlroy, a lifelong Manchester United fan, was a guest on Stick to Football last year, and revealed that he once asked Keane for an autograph outside a hotel in Ireland, only to be refused by his idol.
And Keane couldn’t resist one more dig at the five-time major champion, joking: “I didn’t see him signing autographs after, by the way! All those little kids waiting for him!”
