DANNY HIGGINBOTHAM IS working as a pundit on BT Sport for QPR v Stoke City this afternoon.
The 35-year-old Manchester United product, these days playing in the Conference Premier with Altrincham, was asked about his experience at a newly-promoted Premier League club and decided to share an anecdote about his time at Sunderland during Roy Keane’s spell in charge.
Having secured their Premier League status the previous week, the Black Cats suffered a 2-0 defeat away to Bolton at the end of the 2007/2008 season. Keane was furious with the lacklustre performance and let the players know.
“After the game I’m not kidding you, Roy Keane has come in and gone around every single player: ‘You, you’re the reason I’m driving 100 miles every weekend to try and find a better player. You’re a centre forward, you can’t find the back of the net. You can’t defend to save your life.’
“And then the best bit was, just as he is walking out of the dressing room, he goes around and says: ‘Another thing lads, before you go. This Monday I’m ordering 30 Umbro hoodies. When you do your lap of honour next week, you’re going to have your hoods up because you should be ashamed. You shouldn’t let the fans see you. So you walk around clapping but don’t let the fans see you because you’ve had a poor season.’”
Watch video footage of Higginbotham telling the story here
