The inside track on how day’s drama unfolded

ONLY 48 hours ago, I wrote in this paper’s Arena magazine that Roy Keane was in a win-win situation at United and that it seemed he was simply waiting for Alex Ferguson to shove him in one direction or the other. Little did I imagine, of course, that the push would happen quite so rapidly and in such dramatic circumstances.

Roy was looking at two possible scenarios down the line. One - always the unlikelier - was to be offered a new playing contract at United, together with some assurances about a role in the coaching set-up down the line. The other was to move on and play for at least another year elsewhere, with a cast-iron guarantee of a management role to come, perhaps even to start immediately. The bottom line is, however, that he wants to play until 2007. And once United decided they do not want him to do that at Old Trafford - a decision confirmed by the directors on Fergie’s advice in the last few days, it is now clear - then it was clear Keane might be forced to cut and run now rather than wait until June.

Such is the background that explains his reaction yesterday morning when Fergie confronted him. It is generally accepted that Fergie had called Keano and Kennedy in for the meeting, clearly to discuss both recent events and the player’s future. When Roy entered Carrington at 9am, a source of mine who works there happened to cross his path as Roy strode towards Fergie’s bunker. “There are mornings when you look at Roy’s eyes and you know not to say a word, not even ‘good morning’,” the source explained: “this was one of those mornings. Face like thunder.”