Roy Keane has stoked the embers of his historic rivalry with Alan Shearer, admitting that the former Newcastle United forward still "annoys" him.
The ex-Manchester United skipper provided analysis for Newcastle's emphatic 4-1 victory over Manchester United on Sunday. Sky Sports presenter Kelly Cates brought up an unforgettable clash between the two sides in September 2001, which saw Keane sent off after an altercation with Shearer.
Keane, 53, was quizzed about the incident and what sparked it. He revealed his irritation stemmed from United defender Wes Brown's own goal, which handed Newcastle a memorable win. On his reaction, Keane said: "People used to annoy me. One in particular. And he still annoys me."
Although he didn't name Shearer directly, his smirk implied it was a subtle nod to his longstanding battle with the Newcastle hero, hinting that Keane hasn't quite moved on from their fiery encounters on the field.
In that infamous game, which ended in a 4-3 win for Newcastle, Keane saw red for hurling the ball at Shearer's head as a response to being shoved by the striker. The confrontation escalated when Keane attempted another strike at Shearer but missed, accidentally hitting the referee's yellow card instead.
An unstoppable Laurent Robert free-kick opened the scoring, with Rob Lee and Nikos Dabizas firing Sir Bobby Robson's side into a 3-1 lead. United staged a second-half comeback, but Brown's own goal sealed three points for the Magpies, which led Keane's temper to flare.
Throughout the late '90s and early 2000s, Keane and Shearer, now 54, frequently exchanged heated words during matches. Recalling the notorious incident on the Match of the Day podcast last year, Shearer said: "I had loads of rucks with him and I wasn't the only one. It was a throw-in in the far corner where I stopped him taking an early throw.
"We were beating them at St. James' Park and he wanted to take a quick throw-in and he'd been at me all game as he normally was. It was about three of four minutes before the end of the game. I can't remember exactly what I said, I called him some sort of name.
"He got the red card and I remember having a little smile and thought, 'I've done you [like] a kipper here'. I can't believe you've fallen into that little trap."
Speaking about lighter moments, Shearer admitted that Keane was responsible for the funniest comment made towards him on the pitch. "Roy Keane once said that he was going to knock me out," he said.
When asked about potentially entering the ring with Keane for a celebrity boxing match, the Newcastle legend argued that he's "too old" for such spectacles. Despite his numerous clashes with Keane, Shearer expressed a great deal of respect for the former Sunderland manager.
"I did have run-ins but only because of the amount of respect I had for him, because of how much he wanted to win and what a captain he was," Shearer explained.
"He epitomises everything about the game, he doesn't like losing - and rightly so - but that's what makes him such a great player. Sometimes he loses his temper but if you took that away he wouldn't be the player he is and I admire him for that."
