Get the latest Celtic news delivered straight to your inbox with our newsletter
We have newsletters
Get the latest Celtic news delivered straight to your inbox with our newsletter
We have newsletters
Gordon Strachan has revealed how he had to tell Manchester United legend Roy Keane he would be a SUB when he completed his stunning Celtic transfer.
The Irishman’s move to Parkhead caused a seismic upset in Scottish football when he moved to east Glasgow on an 18-month contract in December 2005, but was forced to retire six months later, despite having secured a league and cup double in his formation. hero years. Array
Strachan was the guy at the time and Keane said in his autobiography that he joined SPITE, the Celtic boss at the time, as he never sought him out. Now, Strachan, speaking to balayer. io, has spoken about Keane’s reaction by telling him that he would struggle to get into his eleven. He said: “I used to play with two wingers and a striker coming back and leaving the main striker, so I had no idea how I was going to make him compatible with that eleven. . I had to reach out to Roy Keane and tell him I wasn’t going to start.
“The conversation started with us just staring at each other over the table, and I was genuinely so excited to have him at Celtic with me and I was never interested in the circumstances as to why he left Manchester United. So I was honest with him and I said, ‘Listen, it’s great having you here, but if I’m picking a team tomorrow, you aren’t in it.’ Without hesitation, he said he was absolutely fine with that, even though I could see he absolutely wasn’t okay with that. But I have to say that I got on tremendously well with Roy and I still do to this day if we do TV work together. I find myself gravitating towards him.
“Roy trained with us a bit before the transfer window because he had been let go by Manchester United, so he got to know the lads for a fair period of time before he officially signed. Roy was a different kettle of fish, because you’re talking about a world class player. When it became apparent that we could sign Roy Keane, I was amazed and thought it was magnificent. But I had a problem; we were unbeaten in so many games and I had [Neil] Lennon and [Stiliyan] Petrov in the middle of the park.”
In his autobiography, Keane said: “I met Gordon Strachan in London, at the house of Dermot Desmond. Gordon said to me, “I don’t care if you signal us or not. We’re fine without you. Then I said to myself, “it, I’m signaling. “I think that’s one of the reasons I singled out Celtic: to make Gordon wrong.
Earlier this week, Keane had said how surprised he had been by some of the things at Celtic. He said: “Speaking of shock, I don’t forget when I went to Celtic, it’s this iconic club.
“But I leave United and the stadium (Celtic Park) is amazing, but I hadn’t really seen the training ground. I am going back a few years, they have a good one now, but I was in the dressing room at Celtic and they go to the dressing room to get changed, and I had been at United; but you change at Celtic Park and drive to the training ground in your boots and your gear.
“Three or four of us would drive in the car and it would rain there, practice and then we’d all get back in the car and back. All of a sudden, you think, “This is different. “