Keane was blunt about the former Manchester United assistant's questioning of his loyalty to the club – after the Portuguese departed and returned from Sir Alex Ferguson's staff himself
ROY KEANE revealed he regretted “not ripping Carlos Queiroz’s head off” when the pair fell out at Manchester United.
The Iran coach was Sir Alex Ferguson’s assistant manager and trained Keane at Old Trafford before the Irishman's explosive departure from the club in 2005.
And Keane, 46, admits they almost traded blows after the Portuguese doubted his commitment in his second spell as No2.
He said: “In his second spell when he came back, for some reason towards the end of my time I found him to be really disrespectful towards me so we had a bit of fallout.
“He questioned my loyalty and I told him where to go.
“And one of my big regrets is that I probably should have ripped his head off – but he’s an excellent coach and he’s doing an excellent job, it has to be said.
Queiroz, centre, and Keane, right, worked at United together in the mid-2000s
“He was probably a bit defence-minded but I had a good relationship with him, particularly in his first spell at the club.”
Queiroz had two spells at United, the first one lasting from 2002 to the summer of 2003, but after a season at Real Madrid he was invited back to join Ferguson's coaching staff in 2004, where he stayed for another four years.
Keane also had viewers talking last night when the notoriously straight-faced pundit struggled to contain a laugh after Ian Wright joked about why Gareth Southgate dislocated his shoulder in the woods.
Patrice Evra was also on the ITV punditry team alongside Keane and sang the praises of Queiroz, who he worked under at United.
The Frenchman, 37, said: “Carlos is someone who you feel like never smiles.
“His training sessions are perfect but when he left United, tactically it was not the same. As a person, he’s really difficult, I would say [that].”
