Fear is not a word one associates with Roy Keane, except when inflicted upon opponents during his time as a ferocious Manchester United captain. However, he says that is exactly what stopped him from joining Real Madrid upon his release from Old Trafford in 2005, instead settling for the safer option of Celtic. Having split with Man United in acrimonious circumstances, Real Madrid sporting director Emilio Butragueno phoned the former Irish skipper with the opportunity to prolong his career in Spain. The proud Irishman refused to accept the proposal, later insisting that its no good playing for a club, its about having a big influence. However, with his time in Scotland marred by injury and painkillers, and curtailed within six months, Keane was left to rue what might have been at the prestigious Santiago Bernabeu.
''I should have appreciated Reals offer more. It was the most attractive challenge in front of me but I didnt accept it. In hindsight, I should have said to myself: Go, go to Spain, live there for a year and a half, learn the language, learn the culture. I took a negative approach. The weather and training might have given me another lease of life, another two years of playing. As much as anything else, it was fear that decided me - fear of the unknown. - Roy Keane, October 2014.
Recent Journalism & New Media graduate. Insatiable thirst for all things football, and hopes to break into the field of sports journalism in the near future.
Have made a significantly insignificant playing career out of receiving several slaps around the head for not passing the ball.
