Roy Keane played under Jack Charlton between 1991 and 1995, and was part of the Republic of Ireland team that went to the World Cup in 1994.
However, the former Manchester United captain, in his first autobiography, didn’t speak well of the Ireland training sessions while Charlton was manager, and the pair didn’t enjoy a particularly close relationship
However, according to Charlton’s son John, who worked with the Ireland team during his father’s 10-year reign as manager between 1985 and 1995, the former Ireland manager played a big role in getting Keane his move to Manchester United.
Keane joined United in the summer of 1993, after impressing for Nottingham Forest, despite the club suffering relegation from the Premiership. The Cork midfielder, and future Ireland captain, had been due to join Blackburn Rovers, after telling their manager Kenny Dalglish he would sign for the club.
However, as Keane reveals in his first autobiography, the United manager intervened.
“The phone rang. It was Alex Ferguson,” it reads in Keane’s book.
“‘Roy, it’s Alex Ferguson here. Have you signed any forms?’ ‘No, but I shook hands on the deal and I’m due to sign the forms tomorrow’.
‘”Why don’t you come to Manchester and have a chat with me before you do anything?'”
Keane and Ferguson agreed to the deal over a game of snooker, and the player informed the Blackburn manager of his decision.
“I phoned Dalglish to tell him I’d changed my mind about joining Blackburn. He went crazy. ‘Nobody does this to me, nobody does this to Kenny Dalglish.'”
John Charlton, speaking to the Sunday Times, claims that his father had a decisive impact in the transfer.
“On one Ireland trip, in the hotel, I walked down the corridor and Roy was sat there in the bedroom with his roommate Denis Irwin,” Charlton says.
“Denis said to me: ‘Roy’s just got off the phone to Kenny Dalglish. He’s going to Blackburn’. I went and told dad. He said ‘what do you mean he is going to Blackburn? No he’s not. Go and get him and tell him to come and see me’.
“Roy went and spoke to Jack and a few days later he signed for Manchester United. Alex Ferguson had asked my dad about Keane and Jack told him that you will double your money in a few years, but you won’t want to get rid of him. Jack has never got the credit he deserves for that.”
Big Jack clearly had an eye for a player.
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