We all realise there has been a lot of chat regarding the new Celtic manager and since Dermot Desmond’s non event of an interview (which I will get onto later), Celtic fans are still no further forward in who the next manager will be or how the new managerial set up will look come the summer.
But there are two players who have extensive knowledge of one of the favourites for the job very well. Ruud van Nistelrooy and Rio Ferdinand were discussing their ex Manchester United team mate, Roy Keane, on Rio Ferdinand’s Vibe with Five podcast (transcribed by The Daily Mirror) and gave a fascinating insight to one of the top potential candidates for the Hoops job.
Speaking fondly of Keane, Van Nistelrooy recounted, “He was direct, everybody knows that and in the beginning I had to get used to that directness.
Roy Keane for next Celtic gaffer?
YES
NO
“I had this hairband, you know? For three months, every day he was talking about that hairband: ‘get that thing out of your hair! What the **** are you doing with that thing? You’re in the Premier League now!’
“That was banter in the dressing room, but he kept you on your toes, you know?”
Speaking of how Keane prepared for games Van Nistelrooy recalled how calm Keane was before a match but as soon as that whistle goes a switch seems to flick, “He puts on the boots, little shin pads on, jogs a few times around in the warm-up. The referee blows the whistle and there’s an animal on the pitch! I don’t know how! How does that happen?”
Ferdinand agreed with his ex team mate, “That’s what I used to say to all my mates. ‘There’s something wrong with him, there’s something not quite right there with him’.
Is that the kind of mentality the Celtic dressing room requires at a time of supposed major transition? Many might say yes as it may give the players a boot up the backside to spark some sort of performance for them. Is Roy Keane the best man for the job? Who knows but as the international break is in full swing, it doesn’t look likely there will be an announcement anytime soon.
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