Isolated at Old Trafford — Keane against club colleagues

THERE was a time when any player at Manchester United seen enjoying a beer with Roy Keane would receive a hefty fine from Alex Ferguson.

Worried the Irish midfielder was spending far too long at the bar, Ferguson took the extraordinary step of cutting off his supply of drinking partners.

Today, United's manager has no such concerns and not just because Keane has discovered the inner strength to steer clear of alcohol. Keane's friends are few in Manchester United's dressing room. That is hardly surprising.

While Keane appears not the least bit bothered he once revealed how he possessed not a single telephone number belonging to a team-mate he has become an increasingly isolated figure at Old Trafford.

His public condemnation of colleagues after losing to Bayern Munich in the quarter-finals of the Champions League last year was not well received, and one can only imagine how comments in his autobiography were digested yesterday.

Keane blames himself as much as anybody for United's failure to lift a single trophy last season but, in accusing the team of wallowing in their material wealth, he has taken the debate to a far more personal level. "Rolex watches, garages full of cars, mansions, set up for life, then forgot about the game and lost the hunger that got you the Rolex, the cars and the mansion," writes Keane. "That's where we were. Yesterday's heroes."

The reaction is unlikely to be as it was among his Republic of Ireland colleagues during the summer. They decided enough was enough after Keane erupted and backed Mick McCarthy in his dispute with the team captain.

At United the deep sense of professionalism and pride will probably leave the players reluctantly nodding in agreement with Keane, even if they feel it was something that could have been said behind closed doors and not in a book being serialised by British newspapers.

Add to that Ferguson's admiration for Keane and the 31-year-old would appear to be on fairly safe ground.

He does have a reputation for speaking his mind, even if the complex nature of his personality means his words can be delivered in a variety of ways. At times charming, articulate and far more intelligent than many give him credit for, he can just as easily let off steam with a volley of four-letter expletives.

News that he decided to walk away from United after his dismissal at Newcastle last season comes as no great surprise. In the end, Keane refused to play in this year's World Cup on a point of principle and the chances are there will be other such moments before he finally retires.

One of Keane's greatest qualities is just how seriously he takes his football. If everything is not to his satisfaction it seems he would rather be at home walking the dog. When, in his own mind, he called into question his worth to the team his altercation with Alan Shearer that afternoon left him beginning to think he had become a liability he decided to quit.

In his book he expresses relief that Ferguson persuaded him to stay, just as he does Ferguson's decision earlier this year to remain as manager.

When Ferguson announced he would retire at the end of last season he said it was because his devotion to the cause had come at a cost. In giving so much, others namely his immediate family had suffered.

Keane feels similarly committed and it is perhaps because of that single-minded determination to succeed that he and Ferguson prove so intolerant of those who fail to match their ambition.

There is a darker side to Keane that still causes concern and not just for his lawyers after he admitted that his vicious tackle on Manchester City's Alf Inge Haaland in May 2001 was entirely premeditated. That might be one that also makes the English Football Association sit up and take note.

Keane is the first to admit he occasionally struggles to control his competitive instincts and, in a sense, he should be admired for his honesty. But as Jaap Stam discovered, revealing all can sometimes leave one rather exposed.