“I might never forgive Fergie”

Roy Keane has admitted he might never forgive Sir Alex Ferguson for the way he was forced to depart Manchester United, in the wake of an interview the Irishman gave to MUTV.

Speaking at the launch of his new book The Second Half at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Keane said he doubted his relationship with Fergie could ever recover, as neither of them looks willing to take a step back and bury the hatchet once and for all.

“Not sure, not sure. Football is a small world, you will cross paths with people again,” Keane said when asked if he could ever forgive Ferguson.

“The problem I had, is that when you hope you have known someone for some time, it’s afterwards when people start coming out with all sorts of nonsense. When you think what he made out of it, millions of pounds, statues. But to criticise people who have earned him success … would I forgive him? I don’t know.

“If we cross paths. I’m sure we will … cross paths, that is. Lots of stuff I let go, but eventually you have to go, enough is enough. You have to defend yourself.”

Asked to elaborate on why he fell out with Fergie and made reference to the interview MUTV which eventually led to his departure, Keane said things weren’t as straightforward as they might have looked to outsiders.

“It is quite hard to explain. You just knew,” Keane said. “There was a lot of propaganda from United about this leaked video that shouldn’t have been played. United were quite happy to let that run. I had to fight my corner on that one. No one had an issue with that in terms of the players, it was just Ferguson and [assistant coach Carlos] Queiroz.

“Sometimes you just know these things. Just the way it was handled. Ferguson has pals in the media, I can spot them a mile off, some of them are here today. I can see them, putting out little snippets, lies.”

Keane admitted that his new biography was a distraction from his duties as Aston Villa manager but insisted he had to publish it to “defend himself against stuff which was untrue”.

“I had no real plans to write a book. I had plenty of offers these last few years, particularly when people were telling a pack of lies about me these last few years,” the former United captain said. “But the stuff I have gone into is me defending myself against stuff I felt was untrue.

“There was also a lot of good stuff, really good stuff. This idea with me falling out with everybody … People will look at the negatives.”