ROY KEANE AND Alex Ferguson were faced with a potentially awkward situation, as the duo ended up on the same flight from Paris to Manchester earlier today.
The duo famously fell out amid Keane’s acrimonious departure from Man United in 2005, and their relationship has only appeared to worsen since then, with the pair trading critical comments in their recent respective autobiographies.
Both were at the PSG-Chelsea Champions League match on Tuesday, with Keane working as an analyst for ITV and Ferguson attending the game as part of his work with UEFA, leading them to be subsequently stuck on the same return flight back to Manchester.
Daniel Taylor of The Guardian reports that Keane and Ferguson did not exchange any words on the flight, even if they were clearly aware of one another’s presence, as they sat only three rows apart.
Taylor writes: “Ferguson… did not rev up the infamous Hairdryer and opted instead for his other well-rehearsed ploy of trying to freeze an old adversary into indifference, both he and Keane studiously ignoring one another as they passed in the terminal. Ferguson and his wife, Cathy, had been first on the flight after he was recognised by a member of Air France’s staff and moved to the front of the queue. Keane was the last after hanging back. As the Irishman took his seat, Cathy gave her husband a nudge. Ferguson took one look, narrowed his eyes and then lifted up his newspaper to continue reading the sports pages. That newspaper was a handy shield over the next hour or so in the air.”
Taylor speculates that a confrontation may have taken place before they boarded the flight, but whatever the case, it still seems unlikely that these two influential figures in Manchester United’s history will be willing to publicly bury the hatchet any time soon.
