RIO FERDINAND has revealed the hilarious moment he realised Roy Keane was “crazy.”
That’s after the Irishman snapped at him during his first training session at Manchester United.
Rio Ferdinand has opened up on ‘crazy’ Roy Keane at Man UtdPA:Press Association
The Red Devils icons spent three-and-a-half years together at Old Trafford.
And United fans would give anything to have them back in their prime.
But Ferdinand admits he was not initially sold on working with Keane following his £30million move to United from Leeds in 2002.
In those days, the midfielder was captain at the Theatre of Dreams and famous for his take-no-prisoners attitude.
Ferdinand’s British transfer record fee made him the new golden boy when he rocked up for his first training session at Carrington.
But Keane’s “crazy” reaction to his passing gave Ferdinand cause for concern.
The six-time Premier League winner, 44, said: “I got the ball and passed to Gary Neville, who was on my team.
“In a normal game that was a great ball, pass to your teammate, go up the pitch.
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“And then Keane turned around and just started going, ‘Pass it forward, take risks, you’re not at Leeds or West Ham now, you’re at Man United’.
“I stood there and thought, ‘This guy is crazy, what’s he doing? I passed to a teammate, surely I’m doing alright’.
“I got home later that day and thought,’This guy is nuts, how am I going to deal with him on a daily basis?’
“And then I realised that you’ve got to take chances and that’s how I ended up playing my career, not passing the simple ball to Gary but into the strikers to make a difference.”
Unfortunately for Ferdinand, his working relationship with Keane came to an abrupt end in November 2005 when the midfielder left United after a bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Keane, 51, departed Old Trafford for Celtic with seven titles, four FA Cups and the 1999 Champions League.
As for Ferdinand, he added the Champions League to his own collection in 2008, but never managed to get his hands on an FA Cup with United.