Roy Keane has been speaking about Everton icon Duncan Ferguson.
When you think of Premier League hardmen over the years – those you would not want to bump into on a bad day – two that very often would come up into conversation would be Roy Keane and Duncan Ferguson.
‘Keano’ and ‘Big Dunc’ both gained a reputation as very talented footballers – but both also had a tendency to, let’s say lose their temper every once in a while.
And neither was one to shirk from a fight.
But during the coverage of Arsenal v Everton’s FA Cup quarter-final tie Keane revealed something about his feelings of Ferguson.
The camera panned onto Ferguson as he was taking a pre-match training drill, something he now does as his recently awarded new role with the first-team coaching staff, and Adrian Chiles asked Keane what his thoughts were on Ferguson – to which he replied:
“I used to stay away from him. We’re talking about characters earlier and he’s certainly that. He was a top, top player and he’s obviously been promoted up the last two or three weeks to work with the first-team and no doubt the strikers at Everton will learn a lot from him. “
Keane had the reputation, and of course you wouldn’t say it to his stern face, but Ferguson was the real deal.
Who can forget him trying to throttle Steffen Freund, throwing Paul Ince to the floor or nailing Paul Scharner with a stomach churning body blow?
This is a guy whose record reads nine red cards and a three-month prison sentence.
No wonder Keane steered clear of ‘Big Dunc’.
image: © Vintagekits
