Roy Keane has amusingly revealed that Alan Shearer still 'annoys' him - nearly a quarter of a century after the Manchester United legend saw red against Newcastle United.
Newcastle were just a few seconds away from a 4-3 win against Manchester United at St James' Park in 2001 when Keane picked up the ball to take a quick throw-in. However, the Manchester United captain found Shearer in his way.
In an effort to eat up some time, Shearer stretched his arm out to delay Keane and put his hand on the Irishman's chest. Keane, in response, petulantly threw the ball at the back of Shearer's head and the pair squared up.
Keane later wrote that Shearer insulted him before the Newcastle skipper mischievously put his hand on the midfielder's chest once again. That was the trigger for Keane to swing a punch at Shearer.
However, not only did Keane miss - the Manchester United midfielder knocked the yellow card out of Steve Bennett's hand. The referee instead sent Keane off, which made him even angrier, and the Corkman tried to launch himself at Shearer again before being restrained and led away by team-mate David Beckham.
Keane was so incensed that he waited for Shearer in the tunnel after the game and the 53-year-old reflected on the flashpoint ahead of seeing his former side trounced by Newcastle on Sunday.
"People annoy me," he told Sky Sports. "I think I got fined two weeks' wages for that. I was still annoyed at Wes [Brown] for that OG at the end. People used to annoy me. One in particular - and he [Shearer] still annoys me!"
Keane and Shearer were both present at St James' Park at the weekend and the pair are now going head to head in the podcast charts as well as on rival television broadcasters. After Keane's Sky colleague Jamie Carragher claimed they were on the 'best podcast', Stick to Football, last week, Shearer's pal, Gary Lineker, hit back.
"They're languishing miles behind and that's OK," the Rest is Football host said. "We like people to have a bit of competition in there, but you can't be the best podcast when you're standing there talking over each other all the time.
"They're a YouTube show. We know that because you can't have five people around a thing doing a podcast. it's just too many. It doesn't work. Not that I know anything about podcasts."
