Roy Keane clashes with Gary Neville over composition of Michael Carrick’s backroom staff (Image: The Overlap – Sticking to Soccer)
Manchester United icons Roy Keane and Gary Neville have clashed over Michael Carrick’s revamped backroom team, particularly over the appointment of several former players. Keane questioned whether Jonny Evans had sufficient coaching qualifications for a first-team role, but Neville praised the arrival of former England assistant Steve Holland.
Carrick’s new coaching structure includes Holland, former Middlesbrough assistant Jonathan Woodgate, recently retired United defender Evans and Under-21 manager Travis Binion. In a heated debate, Keane disputed Neville’s assessment and dismissed the idea that Holland’s pedigree automatically made him a coaching “guru”.
Speaking on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, Neville said: “Steve Holland, I’m not saying that’s going to bring success, but he’s a serious operator and I think that’s made Carrick’s staff better.”
Former United midfielder Keane was quick to retort: ”What about the other coaches he brought in?”
Neville replied: “The other two seem to be the ones he relied on for things. I don’t know, I haven’t seen the other two coaches.”
“Johnny Evans, he was at the beach two weeks ago,” Keane retorted. “Jonny Evans left Man United four or five weeks ago as loan manager and then Darren Fletcher, oddly enough, gave him the job.
“He’s got two games, Fletch leaves and Carrick gives him the job, which is great. We should all go to Barbados for a week. You’re trying to bring together a coaching staff and you praise one of them as having experience, but you’ve decided to let go of the other two, Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans.
“What did Jonny Evans do to become Man United’s first-team coach? He left his job as a loan manager four weeks ago and ironically came back to work with the first team. Isn’t that a big step up?”
Arsenal legend Ian Wright agreed, saying: “This is a huge improvement.”
“Thank you, Ian,” Keane replied sarcastically, drawing laughs from the rest of the panel, including Jill Scott and Jamie Carragher.
Neville tried to explain his position, saying: “Once Michael’s arrival was announced, I thought, ‘Okay, he’s going to be under a lot of pressure, we need to make sure his information on the training ground is very hot’.”
“If he had brought in Woodgate and Evans, I think his job would have been much harder.”
Keane also took issue with Neville over Holland’s appointment as assistant manager, asking: “Going back to what you said earlier, what do you think United need at the moment with Steve Holland? Is it just coaching?”
A heated discussion took place about the latest episode of ‘Stick to Football’ (Image: The Overlap – Sticking to Soccer)
Neville replied: “What I’m saying is that if Steve Holland is on the training pitch, at least they know they’re going to get top-class training. I’m not saying they weren’t there before, because they probably would have been too.”
“I don’t know what Evans or Woodgate are like as coaches, I don’t know what Carrick is like as a coach. What I’m saying is he’s got a lot of experience. Are you against the appointment of Steve Holland?”
Keane felt his former team-mates were ignoring his objections about experience, saying: “You’re sitting here thinking, ‘I’m so glad they brought in Steve Holland,’ while they bring in two more staff members and you ignore them and say, ‘I don’t really care about them.’
I wish I could have sat here and said, “Do you think Steve Holland is the right guy right now because he’s brought in three people on his staff and they’re all good?”
Neville replied: “I think he has a lot of experience and is a good coach.”
Keane pointed to several United coaches who struggled after Ferguson, stressing that experience does not necessarily lead to success.
“Steve McLaren was very experienced, Mike Phelan was very experienced, they’re all players who have been around in the last few years,” he said.
The two sides then had a heated exchange, with neither side backing down.
Neville claimed: “When David Moyes came in, I felt he should have had a bit of experience.” Keene retorted, “Who did you bring?”
Neville replied, “He brought my brother and John Murtagh.” Keane questioned: “Was that exactly what deserved a place at Man United?”
Neville defended the club, saying: “I understand why you bring in former players who know the club well. Mourinho did that at Chelsea. That’s not unusual.”
Keane quipped, “The idea of bringing someone in from the club doesn’t always work out.”
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