Roy Keane has stirred up his famous spat with Alan Shearer after hinting the former Newcastle United ace still "annoys" him.
The ex-Manchester United skipper was on punditry duty during Newcastle's thumping 4-1 win against his old side on Sunday. Ahead of the match, Sky Sports host Kelly Cates recalled a notorious 2001 clash when the fiery midfielder was sent off after facing off with Shearer.
Keane, 53, opened up about why he was irate that day, blaming it on an own goal by then-teammate Wes Brown, which handed Newcastle a huge victory. Speaking about his reaction, Keane said: "People used to annoy me. One in particular. And he still annoys me."
This seemed to be a not-so-subtle hint towards Shearer, with Keane's telling grin giving the game away. It's clear that Keane remembers their feisty rivalry, which often exploded into heated moments on the field back in their heydays.
The famous game in 2001 ended in a 4-3 loss for United. Keane was dismissed for lobbing the ball at Shearer's head after the latter pushed him. The confrontation escalated, and Keane swung at Shearer but only managed to swipe the ref's yellow card from his hand.
Laurent Robert's stunning free-kick had given the home side the lead, and Newcastle cancelled out Ruud van Nistelrooy's equaliser with goals from Rob Lee and Nikos Dabizas. Ryan Giggs and Juan Sebastian Veron helped Sir Alex Ferguson's team get back on level terms, but Brown's late own goal gave Newcastle the three points.
Speaking on the Match of the Day podcast last year, Shearer reminisced about his spats with Keane. "I had loads of rucks with him and I wasn't the only one," the Newcastle legend said. "It was a throw-in in the far corner where I stopped him taking an early throw.
"We were beating them at St. James' Park and he wanted to take a quick throw-in and he'd been at me all game as he normally was. It was about three or four minutes before the end of the game. I can't remember exactly what I said, I called him some sort of name.
"He got the red card and I remember having a little smile and thought, 'I've done you [like] a kipper here'. I can't believe you've fallen into that little trap."
When asked about the funniest thing anyone ever said to him on the pitch, Keane was also top of Shearer's mind. "Roy Keane once said that he was going to knock me out," he shared.
The former England striker was asked about a hypothetical celebrity boxing match with Keane but shrugged it off, saying he's "too old" for such stunts now. Yet through all their infamous confrontations, Shearer has publicly acknowledged his profound respect for the ex-Man United star.
"I did have run-ins but only because of the amount of respect I had for him, because of how much he wanted to win and what a captain he was," Shearer said.
"He epitomises everything about the game, he doesn't like losing - and rightly so - but that's what makes him such a great player. Sometimes he loses his temper but if you took that away he wouldn't be the player he is and I admire him for that."
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