GARY PALLISTER HAS revealed he didn’t talk to Roy Keane during his final season at Manchester United.
Signed by Alex Ferguson from Middlesbrough in 1989, the former England defender went on to win four Premier League titles before returning to Boro nine years later, and admits having a spiky relationship with the Cork midfielder.
During one particular pre-season trip to Marbella, Andy Cole bumped into the pair, who were embroiled in an argument. Keane’s (presumably expensive) watch had been knocked off and he was especially irate.
“That was a good night,” laughed Pallister yesterday during a trip to Dublin yesterday. “His watch fell on the floor. He was more concerned about that. It must have been a very expensive one!”
“It was handbags. It happened on a player’s night out. You hear things and things are said and I don’t think there were any connections with any punches but we managed to keep it quiet from the gaffer – that was always important.”
It wouldn’t be the last time the two outspoken individuals were involved in a run-in and neither spoke a word to the other for the entire 1997-98 campaign.
“It was weird,” explains the 49-year-old. “It wasn’t like we hated each other. We were just both stubborn enough not to say ‘here…’. We should have both put our hands out after that and got on with it.
We laughed about it at the time but we just wouldn’t be the one to say ‘let’s forget about this’. That’s how stubborn we were.
“When I left to go to Middlesbrough I went to get my stuff out of the dressing rooms at the Cliff and Roy was walking up the stairs as I was walking down. He started laughing, I started laughing. We shook hands and he said ‘I wish you all the best, big man’ and we started talking again after that. Something as daft as that, two people being stubborn.
“That’s the professionalism. I think Coley and Teddy Sheringham would shake hands before the game, it was all about forgetting about personalities and different issues, when you come together on a match day it’s about doing it for the team.”
Like Keane, Pallister occasionally does some media work and their paths crossed on a European night trip in Basel.
“He came to the hotel and we sat down for a coffee and a chat and a catch up,” says Pally. “He’s good company. I admire Roy for the way he is and the fact he always speaks his mind. He’s forthright in his views and says what he feels – whether that’s always right or it’s wrong you’ve got to admire that.
Ex Manchester United footballer Gary Pallister and Celtic legend Tommy Boyd today announced Ford’s exclusive ‘152’ Summer Sales Event. Further details are available at Ford.ie or at participating Ford Dealers nationwide.
