Captivating Keane brings far more to the table than he takes

No-one is bigger than the club. It’s a line we hear multiple times every season, even in this post-Bosman era of player power and multi-million pound contracts. It is a line we heard time and again when Roy Keane parted ways with Alex Ferguson and Manchester United back in 2005.

Yet Martin O’Neill’s assistant manager has now managed the seemingly impossible by proving to be bigger than his country and its most eagerly awaited fixture since whenever.

Quite the achievement, that.