Our perception of Roy Keane is that he was a great player who has struggled to cope with his post football years. This has made him bitter and angry towards certain people and other elements of the status quo.
But, while sometimes skewed, he does seem to live with a strong sense of principals. What really riles him is experiencing what he sees as a lack of integrity from others. That makes him angry.
We don’t agree with a lot of what he has said about another Manchester United legend, Sir Alex Ferguson, and we find his lack of remorse with regards Alfie Inge Haaland smacks of someone who is drawn to violence.
But he has got one thing absolutely spot on. Jose Mourinho showed incredible arrogance when he tried to shake the hands of Paul Lambert and Keane before Chelsea’s recent match with Aston Villa had even finished. The Telegraph quotes the ex-Manchester United star:
“I don’t mind all that [Mourinho mind games] but the game is still going on,” said Keane. “It’s disgraceful, I’ve seen him doing it to other managers, it is a disgrace. The game is still going on. You wouldn’t do that on a Sunday morning, you would get knocked out.”
Asked if he felt Mourinho was arrogant and disrespectful, Keane added: “What do you think? That’s a stupid question. Yeah.”
When will Mourinho learn? He was arguably kicked out of Spain because of his Machiavellian, unsporting ways. But, if anything, he’s worse than ever.
Mourinho may feel that his apparently incendiary attitude, lack of humility and dirty tactics are part of what makes him such a good manager – noone would argue that he’s amongst the very best coaches in the world – but this side of his character doesn’t impress anyone and certainly doesn’t make him a better manager.
Sometimes Mourinho comes across like a spoilt rich kid. Someone with all the toys but none of the friends. The chairman of a club so exclusive that it only consists of one.
Mourinho has the raw materials to be a likeable public figure. He’s charming and witty at times. He’s also a great coach. But that doesn’t make him a great man. And if he has any interest in being one then he should try to be a bit more respectful of others. Because he leaves very bad taste in the mouth of many a neutral with his current attitude.
We may disagree with Keano about certain elements of his time at Manchester United. But we wholeheartedly applaud him for flagging this one up.
