Roy Keane

[osarusan]

So instead of Keanooo we can write Keanおおお?

Very good question! Almost.

The script above is called hiragana, and is for Japanese words. There is a different script for words from other languages, called katakana, so Keanooo would actually be Keanオオオ. Or, to make it fully katakana, キーンオオオ.*



*actually, would be slighly different, but enough Japanese.

[Eminence Grise]

Don't imitate me;
it's as boring
as the two halves of a football.

Keano sips morning tea,
it's quiet,
the chrysanthemum's glowering.

(With apologies to Basho.)

[Stuttgart88]

I was about 12 when that song came out. I was about 25 when I learnt what it was about.

[tetsujin1979]

The Revs did a really good cover of it

[OwlsFan]

There's a vacancy at Aston Villa
experience required - just a scintilla.
They're talking to Keane
a noted has been.
They'd be better off hiring Godzilla

[DannyInvincible]

Awkward times as Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson were both booked in the business class on last night's flight from Paris back to Manchester after having been at the PSG-Chelsea game: http://www.theguardian.com/football/...on-plane-paris

For the passengers on flight AF1068, departing from Charles de Gaulle Airport at 12.55pm, it was probably one of those occasions when Roy Keane might as well have hung a sign around his neck saying: Do Not Disturb.

There was once a time when he and Sir Alex Ferguson might have imagined this kind of chance meeting would be a pleasant occasion. They could have caught up, shared a few stories and been reminded how, in happier times, they were drawn together by their competitive courage in the name of Manchester United.

Instead, it is fair to say there was a distinct lack of entente cordiale as the two men crossed paths for the first time since using their latest autobiographies as a form of artillery to shoot one another On one side, down. Keane sat impassively by the window. On the other side, Ferguson was three rows back. Two men who once had so much in common but who now give the impression they would rather not share one another’s oxygen. The plane had not even taken off before another passenger was speculating whether the flight might have to be diverted due to air-rage.

The first thing to report is that Keane decided not to prove Ferguson’s theory that “the hardest part of Roy’s body is tongue”. The two most impenetrable stares since General Zod did not lock and the former United captain evidently did not feel this was the right place to challenge the older man about the “lies, basic lies” within Ferguson’s book.

Ferguson, in turn, did not rev up the infamous hairdryer and opted instead for his other well-rehearsed ploy of trying to freeze an old adversary into indifference; both he and Keane studiously ignored one another as they passed in the terminal. Ferguson and his wife, Cathy, had been first on the flight after he was recognised by a member of Air France’s staff and moved to the front of the queue. Keane was the last after hanging back. As the Irishman took his seat, Cathy gave her husband a nudge. Ferguson took one look, narrowed his eyes and then lifted up his newspaper to continue reading the sports pages. That newspaper was a handy shield over the next hour or so in the air.

What is difficult to know is how the two men reacted when they saw one another among the pastries and fruit juices of Air France’s VIP lounge and realised they were about to share the business-class seats back to Manchester. Perhaps that was the moment Keane challenged Ferguson about using his “friends in the media” to put out various lies about him. Or maybe this was the chance for Ferguson, in Paris because of his work with Uefa, to tell him to keep his nose out of the Rock of Gibraltar business. We will probably have to wait until the next book. Though it is fair to say that if things had got out of hand there were plenty of people to get in between them; a squad of French rugby players were on the same flight.

Spare a thought, though, for Paul Scholes bearing in mind he was travelling with Keane, having been another part of ITV’s coverage of Chelsea’s 1-1 draw against Paris St Germain. Scholes’s presence as the man in the middle merely added to the sense of awkwardness. Cathy seemed pleased to see him, but maybe this wasn’t the time to beckon him over for a chat.

It ended without so much as a backward glance. Keane was off the plane first while Ferguson hung back this time and, more than anything, it felt slightly strange to see the former manager and the former captain, two of the people who have been most prominently involved in the United success story, reduced to giving each other the silent treatment. No doubt they will both blame one another.

Their feud has been a captivating story and offers a fascinating insight into their personalities and flaws. But they really do need their heads knocking together.

[osarusan]

Journalist managed to get 676 words out of a situation where absolutely nothing happened.

[Crosby87]

At one point, they both got up to use the bathroom at the same time. Neither would budge, nor could they both fit. A sexy flight attendant was called over to settle the dispute. Triggs would want me to use the loo first, said Roy.

[DannyInvincible]

Journalist managed to get 676 words out of a situation where absolutely nothing happened.

Isn't that what is noteworthy about it though? The journalist "felt slightly strange to see the former manager and the former captain, two of the people who have been most prominently involved in the United success story, reduced to giving each other the silent treatment". He was right to feel that way about nothing having happened. It's odd. They wouldn't even exchange pleasantries despite having being important, if not pivotal, figures in one another's career successes, or lives even, for about a decade.

[osarusan]

They've been publicly (intermittently) sniping at each other/being less than warm towards each other for a while though - it hardly came as a surprise to him that they weren't on speaking terms.

[geysir]

It's obvious that the witnessing "of two of the people who have been most prominently involved in the United success story, reduced to giving each other the silent treatment" in such a closed space was worthy of a commentary. Not everybody will find that notable but many will find it a curious predicament/encounter and would want to read the account.

[Metrostars]

It's amazing how he's burned so many bridges over the years.
Life's too short for that sort of stuff.
He should just let bygones be bygones, he'd be happier for it.

p.s. I'm a cliche master

[geysir]

Roy is not alone with that burden, here he is joined by one of the greatest football managers and personalities of the modern game.
They have both gone on to dig holes for themselves in their relationship by acting out immature teenage angst into indelible print, both of them could and should have been bigger than that and now have no language, actions or methods, never mind a willingness to deal with this now and when they just happen to chance upon each other, they are both reduced to shunning each other. But somehow that action does manage to fit in very nicely into this particular drama.

[KK77]

Fergie has been acting like an immature teenager long before he fella out with Roy.

[DeLorean]

It's obvious that the witnessing "of two of the people who have been most prominently involved in the United success story, reduced to giving each other the silent treatment" in such a closed space was worthy of a commentary. Not everybody will find that notable but many will find it a curious predicament/encounter and would want to read the account.

You're being very kind calling it an 'account'. Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson were on the same plane and, as expected, they did not acknowledge each other. There you have it in 19 words.

[Fixer82]

I enjoyed it. Well written piece.

[DannyInvincible]

Roy is not alone with that burden, here he is joined by one of the greatest football managers and personalities of the modern game.
They have both gone on to dig holes for themselves in their relationship by acting out immature teenage angst into indelible print, both of them could and should have been bigger than that and now have no language, actions or methods, never mind a willingness to deal with this now and when they just happen to chance upon each other, they are both reduced to shunning each other. But somehow that action does manage to fit in very nicely into this particular drama.

If I ever encountered TOWK on a flight, I'd at least get the man a drink.

It would be Ryanair economy-class tap-water, mind.

You're being very kind calling it an 'account'. Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson were on the same plane and, as expected, they did not acknowledge each other. There you have it in 19 words.

You'd hate reading Waiting for Godot. It's a play in which nothing happens, twice.

[DeLorean]

I don't necessarily disagree with the writer's take on their relationship, and if it was written around the time of one of their autobiographies I'd say fair enough, but I just don't see it as being newsworthy because they happened to have been on the same flight. I had my fill and then some a couple of months back, but that's just me.

[Stuttgart88]

If Roy Keane was sitting behind Ferguson, why did Ferguson need to keep the newspaper over his face for the next hour, as a "handy shield"?

[DannyInvincible]

why did Ferguson need to keep the newspaper over his face for the next hour, as a "handy shield"?

Who said it was to shield from Roy? Ferguson's wife was also on the flight sitting next to him.