Manchester United legend Roy Keane showed his true class when he commendably stood up for a former Red Devils youngster during his time at Old Trafford.
The 52-year-old Irishman arrived at Old Trafford after his move from Nottingham Forest in 1993 and Keane emerged as a commanding figure at United.
Keane was respected among his former United teammates and excelled as club captain, with the Red Devils legend being an incredible locker-room presence.
However, the Irish hardman made his sudden exit from Old Trafford in 2005 after former United manager Sir Alex Ferguson axed him from his United squad.
Keane, who once valued a United legend at £2bn, recently recalled the brutal way in which Ferguson had informed him about his exit from the Red Devils.
The ex-United midfielder went on to briefly play for Celtic before his retirement, with Keane since opening up on an ‘embarrassing’ regret he had in his career.
Keane and Peter Schmeichel at United
Keane had no love lost for ex-United teammate Peter Schmeichel, having labelled the club legend as one of the most ‘overrated’ players he played with in his career.
The Sky Sports pundit famously clashed with Schmeichel during United’s pre-season tour of Asia in 1998 and Keane’s former teammate even received a black eye.
Dessie Baker was a trainee at the United youth academy during the 1990s and was only 16 during his first fortnight at Old Trafford.
The Irishman revealed that he had the responsibility of cleaning five pairs of boots belonging to United first-team players, including Schmeichel and Keane.
“I had Roy, I had Denis, Peter Schmeichel, Giggsy… I had five pairs of boots to clean every morning,” Baker told the Irish Mirror in 2021.
“What you do is you bring the boots and put them on their pegs for the boys, before they start training.
“Of course I was only 16 at the time. I remember walking into the changing room, going, oh my God, look at the players in this dressing room.
“Obviously Roy was there, Denis [Irwin], Schmeichel, Mark Hughes, all these legends.
“Can you imagine looking around, going ‘Wow!’
“I remember putting the boots down one day. The dressing room was packed with all the first-team players.
“I was walking out of the room and Peter Schmeichel said to me, ‘Irish.’
“I looked back and I went back to him. Everybody was looking at me, all the first-team players. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’
“He said something like, ‘Can I see my face in these boots?’
“I was all panicky. I got all nervous. ‘I don’t know,’ I said.
“‘Do them properly,’ he said, ‘and get me some tea and toast.’”
Keane confronts Schmeichel at United
Following his exchange with Schmeichel, Baker recalled how Keane stood up and called him over as he was about to walk out of the dressing room.
The former Shamrock Rovers and Longford Town player claimed that Keane ruthlessly tore into Schmeichel over his treatment of him.
According to Baker, Keane told him not to commit to Schmeichel’s request for tea and toast and that was his “first encounter” with the iconic Irishman at United.
“I was walking out of the changing room and Roy stood up,” he continued.
“‘Excuse me, Dessie, isn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Come here for a second.’
“They never really saw eye to eye, Roy and Schmeichel. It was true. There were always bits and bobs like that happening.
“Anyway, Roy pushed back and said, ‘Here, his name is not Irish, it’s f*****g Dessie. If you’ve got a problem with your boots, then tell him, don’t be smart.’
“He turned to me. ‘Don’t get him tea and toast, he’ll get his own tea and toast.’
“You can imagine my face. I was only a pimply teenager, but you can imagine my face going purple at this stage.
“Roy says, ‘Go on, I’ll talk to you later.’
“So that was the first encounter I really had with Roy. It was like he was looking after me straight away from the get-go.”
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