Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney had a solid relationship with each other during their time at Manchester United, but their friendship was forged after a tense standoff.
Keane and Rooney played together at Old Trafford for just over a season and the iconic Scouse striker once revealed that a minor argument in which Keane ordered Rooney to “f*** himself” ultimately sealed a mutual respect between the pair . . The incident in question happened the night before United faced Newcastle in a Premier League match in 2004.
The Red Devils had checked into a hotel in the northeast on Friday evening ahead of Saturday's match. The team was relaxing in front of the TV in the evening and enjoying a meal when things threatened to get out of hand.
Former United captain Keane decided he wanted to watch rugby. After briefly leaving the room, Keane returned to sit down, relax and enjoy the game, at which point the fiery midfielder realized that a prankster among the United cabal, Rooney, had changed the TV channel and used the remote had seized.
Recalling the incident in his 2014 autobiography, The Second Half, Keane said: “We were in a hotel the Friday night before a match – I can't remember where. The team used to sit down and eat together. There was a big TV in the room.
“I was playing rugby league and there was a big match. I went to the toilet, came back and someone had changed the channel to something stupid. I can't remember what it was. A few players were sitting there, giggling away.
“I said, 'where's the rugby league?' I knew Wayne was up to something. I said, 'Where's the remote?' He said, 'I don't know.' I said, 'You fucking do that.' I didn't exactly rush out, but I didn't feel like getting the remote back, so I decided to watch the rest of the game in my room.
“I came down the next morning for the pre-match meal and Wayne was brave enough to come up to me. “Did you ever find the remote, Roy?” I think I told him to go fuck himself. It was the only disagreement I ever had with him.”
Keane's prediction that Rooney would be 'brave' enough to confront him may have been the lightning rod for the two stars to get on better terms, and Rooney later agreed. The ex-Everton striker recalled the incident in a similar way, claiming that their confrontation was actually positive for their relationship as he believes Keane gained respect for him after the event.
Rooney tells his version of events in 2018: “I always remember my first away trip, when I had that row with Roy Keane. We watched the rugby before we played Newcastle.
“He went to get some food, so I turned on X Factor and hid the remote. He wasn't happy about it and we had an argument. But I immediately think he respected me more for standing up to him.”
Keane left United shortly after the incident in 2005 to join Celtic after winning seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League under Sir Alex Ferguson. Rooney represented the Red Devils until 2017 and left the club as United's all-time top scorer, complete with five top-flight titles, three League Cups and a Champions League.
The pair now regularly appear together on Sky Sports' The Overlap podcast, alongside former United teammates Gary Neville and Paul Scholes.
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