There was a time when Eamon Dunphy arguably the biggest Roy Keane fan around.
The RTE pundit worked with Keane on his first autobiography, published in 2002, and was a passionate defender of the Manchester United captain during the fallout from the Saipan dispute.
Dunphy called Keane the “greatest player in the history of the club” when the midfielder left United in November 2005, and was responsible for this moment of brilliant television when defending him.
Something changed though, and Dunphy has criticised the Republic of Ireland assistant manager on numerous occasions in the past. But even by his own standards, this is something else from the former Millwall midfielder.
Writing in his column for The Irish Daily Star, Dunphy has compared Keane to Donald Trump, the controversial President-elect of the United States.
‘A reality TV star has been elevated to the US Presidency, and Roy Keane is our Donald Trump. A reality TV star who never saw a microphone he didn’t love,’ Dunphy writes.
The pundit isn’t happy with Keane’s comments about Everton earlier this week.
The Ireland assistant manager criticised the mentality of Everton as a club, after Ronald Koeman had accused the Irish management team of “overloading” James McCarthy, who misses Ireland’s World Cup qualifier against Austria through injury.
‘It’s very hard to understand why Keane behaves this way. Maybe it’s down to some element of narcissism in his personality,’ Dunphy continues.
‘I really wonder what the Ireland players make of it all. Remember, the Ireland captain, Seamus Coleman is an Everton player. It doesn’t do him any favours for the Ireland assistant manager to be behaving this way.
‘But Keane does this time and time again in international week after international week. His gargantuan ego demands that he becomes the story.’
Keane has yet to respond, and most likely won’t.
Dunphy, of course, is no stranger to controversial comments. His take on Keane isn’t as outlandish as his claim that Lionel Messi is beginning to show signs of decline. However, even Dunphy will struggle to top that outrageous claim.
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