McAteer: Roy Keane persuaded Alex Ferguson not to axe him many times

Roy Keane’s one-time international teammate Jason McAteer believes the Corkman’s exit from Manchester United was down to a gradual breakdown of trust rather than any sudden fall-out with Alex Ferguson.

McAteer suggests Ferguson agonised over the Keane departure more than he would have done for any other player. Interviewed in ‘Men in White Suits’, a new book about Liverpool in the 1990s, McAteer reveals that he discussed the Keane situation in a long chat with Ferguson’s assistant Mike Phelan.

McAteer says: “He told me that with Fergie, if he watched a game and a player lost the ball and then found it really difficult to get back in position, Fergie would turn around and go: he’s finished, lost his engine. He’d then try to get the player out of the club.”