Roy Keane has been told that his approach is what cost him potentially becoming Manchester United manager, with former teammate Dwight Yorke revealing his drawbacks as a leader.
Yorke played for United between 1998 & 2002, with Keane being the captain throughout that period, a spell which peaked with United's treble win in 1999. Sir Alex Ferguson was the manager at that time, but Keane's on-pitch leadership skills had him singled out for a future in management.
Keane did become a manager, winning promotion with Sunderland in his first full season of coaching during the 2006/07 season. He later resigned, however, and latterly took the Ipswich job, before being sacked in January 2011.
Since, the former Republic of Ireland international has made his name as a pundit, with assistant manager roles with both Aston Villa and the Irish national team. However, he has not found the success in management which many tipped him for, with Yorke shedding light on Keane's strengths but also his weaknesses.
Speaking about his experience of playing with Keane, Yorke told AceOdds: "It was great." He continued. "I saw him as a potential manager [while playing alongside him at Manchester United], you know, just because of his great leadership and the respect that he gains within the dressing room, which is what you require to be a manager.
"I've said it time and time again, Roy Keane has all the potential to be a great manager and he should have been. But Roy Keane is his own problem, really.
"He's his own problem, saying it as it is, you know if he was a little bit more guided and a little bit cuter in some of his approaches, I think he would be the current manager of Man United today.
Yorke spent two years as a player working under his former teammate's leadership at Sunderland, but they were unable to achieve the same success as their days at Man United under Ferguson. He continued: "Roy Keane lives and dies by the way he sees things and that's fine. And when it goes your way it's great.
"But I loved playing under Keano, loved my time being there [at Sunderland]. Getting to see the transition from him. I learned a lot. What to be like and what not to be like."
Last April, Keane appeared to close the door on his managerial career, with the success of his punditry on Sky Sports cited as one of the reasons he would not pursue further opportunities.
When asked if he had considered a return, he told SPORTbible: "I did up till recently," came Keane's reply. "But I almost feel recently, I think, those days are over for me now, going back into management. I really feel like that. I'm 50 now, I'm doing the TV. Obviously, I'm labelled as more of a pundit now.
"But no, no, I feel I'm getting my head round it. It's maybe more of a head job that is the role for me and over the next few years, I think I can't see a club really giving me a real good opportunity to get back into it. But I don't mind that either.
"I'm not fearful of going, 'Well, you might do the TV for the next two or three years'. I'm fine with that, because I do count my blessings because I know, as you know, there's a lot of ex-players looking to get back into it, and yeah, I'm okay with that."
