Keane is simply the best, claims Ferguson

HAVING laid down the law to his big-earning stars with a timely reminder of his own determination to succeed, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson will take a keen interest in attitude and commitment within the Old Trafford ranks over the next few weeks.

But if there is one man who can be relied on to carry the fight and be assured of giving every last drop of sweat and blood for the Red Devils' cause, it is Roy Keane.

When Ferguson claimed last season's failure to win a trophy had come because his squad fortified by new, large contracts and in the belief that their demanding manager was about to depart had momentarily taken their eye off the ball, one man received complete exoneration Keane.

For all the trials and tribulations of his aborted World Cup campaign and the vicious row with Mick McCarthy, Keane has a stubbornness and fierce competitive streak which is almost a mirror image of Ferguson himself.

A complex character, who yesterday strolled quietly through the lobby of his team hotel with a copy of a broadsheet Sunday paper tucked neatly under his arm, Keane is the man in whom Ferguson puts his trust to carry out the orders and lead from the front.

And over the weekend the man who selflessly drove his team into the 1999 European Cup final when he knew he would play no part in the match, provided two stark examples that he is certainly not prepared to settle for life in the slow lane.

On Friday, when Paul Scholes pulled a late goal back in the 2-1 defeat by Ajax, it was Keane who charged into the net to retrieve the ball, eager for United to chase an equaliser.

And on Sunday night during a 15-minute appearance as substitute, Keane launched a tirade at young midfielder Danny Pugh for a single misdirected pass. Friendlies. The word does not exist in the Irishman's vocabulary.

''The demands he puts on others are unbelievable,'' said Ferguson last week. ''In training when a player gets the ball, even if he is not in a position to receive it, he still shouts for the pass.

''His energy and desire to be up and down the pitch is amazing. He is, quite simply, the best player I have ever had.''

Keane, it seems, wants to keep proving it.