Manchester United icon Lee Sharpe has revealed former team-mate Roy Keane was a “nasty drunk at times”.
Sharpe had been at United for five years already when they signed a young Keane from Nottingham Forest in 1993. The winger struck up an unlikely friendship with the hot-headed Irishman due to their similar ages.
They remained friends for the duration of Sharpe’s career at Old Trafford, when he decided to leave for Leeds United in 1996. And it made Sharpe, who won three Premier League titles under Sir Alex Ferguson, one of the few players never to clash with Keane off the pitch.
The 52-year-old was asked about his friendship with the now somewhat calmer Sky Sports pundit while appearing on the Under The Cosh podcast, where he shed light on being the only former footballing friend of Keane’s to not get on his wrong side.
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Sharpe began by saying: “Keaney was amazing, I love Keaney. I think I’m probably the only footballer that he’s ever knocked around with that he’s never had a fall out with.
“He’s had arguments and tantrums with everybody I know but for some reason [not me]. I’m the type of player he would have hated if he was playing against me. He was the total opposite of me.”
He added: “I looked after him when he first got to United. I took him out. He was aggressive and quite a nasty drunk at times.
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“I looked after him in certain situations and put him in cabs, sent him home and got him out of trouble. So I think he appreciated that.
“We sat next to each other in the training ground, we went out loads. He was different class. What you see is what you get with him. No messing around.”
Keane’s combative playing style and passionate leadership often spilled over into the Red Devils dressing room. He famously never saw eye to eye with legendary goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, with the pair bickering for several years before coming to blows in a Hong Kong hotel during a team trip.
The future United captain also clashed with Gary Pallister in Marbella after taunting him while on a drunken night out until the early hours of the morning. Keane is also known for his feud with former manager Sir Alex due to the way in which his time at United ended.
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