The former Manchester United and now Barcelona defender Gerard Pique recalls an incident when he was 17 years of age playing with the Red Devils and Roy Keane was the captain at the time. The Cork man wasn’t happy when the Spanish defenders phone went off at a team meeting.
Skip forward to 10:40 to hear the story.
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Quotes via Balls.ie
Pique: We all know Roy, but when you’re 17 you look at Roy differently.
I had just arrived, I didn’t know him. It was kind of scary at some points.
It was so scary, that a few years later we went with Barcelona to play Celtic in Scotland and he was doing some kind of TV programme.
I was walking after the game and he came over to me to talk, and part of me was like that little kid that arrived in Manchester when I was 17 and thought ‘of fuck Roy Keane is here!’
He was like ‘come on Gerard, you’re already 24 or 25, come on man’. I said hi and we talked, it was fine.
I just remember at that time when I was 17 with Roy, he was the captain and he was strong always with a tough message. I think he was a great captain, but he was tough sometimes.
Neville: Was there an incident with your phone?
Pique: That was Roy Keane. Now sometimes I see me and my teammates on a phone after a game. Now things have changed a lot.
That time, it was vibrating in and the guy could feel it in my head because it was in my pants (hanging down) in the dressing room. [Keane] stood up and said ‘who the fuck owns this phone?!’
I was like ‘okay it’s me’. He just snapped at me.
Not it’s very different with the veterans and the young players. At that time there was more respect, but the old ones wanted that distance. Now, the young ones arrive and after six months they are like best teammates.
It’s a different mentality. It’s not better, it’s just a different time.