Unless you have been living in a cave with no WIFI connection today you'll be well aware that Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane are as good as confirmed as the new management team of the Irish national side. Few can cast any doubt on O'Neill's credentials over the course of his management career but it is Roy Keane's appointment as his deputy that has really captured the public's imagination, for better or worse.
One of the most divisive characters in all of football, Keane's career has been punctuated by a series of high profile clashes with players, clubs, referees - just about anyone, or anything, really. His drive and ambition isn't to be questioned, as that is what made him the most successful Irish player of all time, but there's another side to Keane which earned him a reputation as one of the most infamous players of his generation. We take a chronological look through a few of the most notorious examples from his past below.
Read more of our coverage of Martin O'Neill and Roy Keane's impending appointment.
Keane reneges on agreement to join Blackburn Rovers
How different would Keane's career have been had he followed through on a verbal agreement to join Kenny Dalglish's Blackburn Rovers from Nottingham Forest in 1993? Legend has it that Keane even shook Dalglish's hand before taking a last minute phone call from Alex Ferguson who persuaded the Corkman that his future belonged in Manchester. Blackburn were, at the time, the moneybags team of English football and an association with Keane could have brought them untold success, which is a sentiment Blackburn fans presumably mull over frequently when crying into their pints as they hover around mid-table obscurity in the Championship.
The Gareth Southgate stamp
Roy Keane and Gareth Southgate share analysis duties for ITV football which must be a little awkward when you consider that Keane one tried to plunge his size twelves through Southgate's sternum in a match in 1995. A mini-brawl then ensued and then David Elleray issued one of the ten red cards that Keane would earn over the course of his Old Trafford career and one of his most deserved. Keane still hasn't let the matter go, either.
The Alf Inge Haaland affair
Two horrendous injuries define the relationship between Keane and Norwegian midfielder Alf Inge Haaland. The first was suffered by Keane at Leeds United's Elland Road in September 1997 where Keane badly injured his anterior cruciate ligament in a challenge with Leeds midfielder Haaland. The Norwegian then shouted abuse at Keane as he lay prone for attempting to foul him, something Keane never forgave him for. Keane would get a measure of red-misted revenge when the two shared a pitch in April 2001. Haaland, now playing for Manchester City, was viciously fouled by Keane who was immediately issued a red card for the offence. Keane later admitted in his autobiography that the foul was deliberate, while Haaland never played a full game of football ever again.
That performance away to Juventus
It's easy to credit Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham with Manchester United's dramatic Champions League Final victory over Bayern Munich but some forget that the team wouldn't have made the final if it weren't for Roy Keane's heroics in the semi final away to Juventus on 21st April in 1999. On that night Keane delivered arguably the finest performance of his career and dragged his teammates into their first European final in 30 years, being instrumental in a 3-2 victory. In true Keane fashion he picked up a booking which earned him a suspension for the final. Alex Ferguson, noting Keane's performance, said that it was an "honour" to be associated with such a player. Keane, however, called the praise "embarrassing".
The Alan Shearer punch
Newcastle United's goalscoring machine Alan Shearer is arguably one of the few players of Keane's era who could match the Manchester United man for attrition and intensity so it was hardly surprising when the two would clash when sharing a football field. In the 2001/2 season, while taking a throw in of all things, Keane and Shearer almost came to blows on the field and this led to the now furious Corkman receiving his marching orders from the referee and was just one of a series of clashes with the England striker.
The Saipan incident
The most talked about single incident in the history of Irish football. Roy Keane's abandonment of the Irish squad prior to the kick off of the 2002 World Cup fiercely divided the country, with one camp loyal to Keane for a perceived mistreatment at the hands of the Irish coaching staff and governing body while the other vilified him for walking out on the Ireland team when they needed him most. Keane famously returned to the squad years later after Mick McCarthy resigned as coach but the damage was done and Ireland missed out on some of Keane's best years as a player in what was as close to a sporting civil war our country has ever been part of.
The Jason McAteer elbow
Irish football fans still look back on Jason McAteer's goal against the Netherlands at Lansdowne Road as one of the finest moments in modern Irish football. The image of McAteer celebrating with his captain was splashed across the front and back pages of newspapers across the nation, which made Keane's clash with McAteer at Sunderland's Stadium of Light in the 2002/3 season all the stranger to witness. Following a robust challenge from McAteer, Keane reacted angrily. McAteer then mimes to a very pissed off Keane that he should "write about it in his book", a statement which earned McAteer an elbow to the head later in the match and another red card for Keane.
The Patrick Vieira rivalry
The rivalry between Arsene Wenger's great Arsenal team of the mid-2000's and Alex Ferguson's Manchester United was mirrored by the intense rivalry Keane had with Arsenal's tough-tackling captain Patrick Vieira. Never was their acrimony so fully and publically evidenced than in the tunnel before United's game at Highbury in February 2005, where the two hard men clashed even before stepping on to the pitch. Keane had the last laugh on this occasion, as United came away with a 4-2 victory.
Roy Keane's MUTV rant
All footage of exactly what Keane said during his infamous appearance on MUTV has been destroyed by Manchester United, such was the perceived gravity of the situation. What we do know is that Keane gave a predictably frank interview to the club's official TV station where he directly criticised some of his colleagues - John O'Shea among them - for playing poorly. Such was the fallout from this incident that it eventually led to Keane's excommunication from Old Trafford by Alex Ferguson and the pair's relationship was never the same again.
Fergie's Keane references in autobiography
The broken relationship between Ferguson and his once most trusted Lieutenant was never as obvious as it was when Sir Alex released his autobiography earlier this year. Keane was savaged, both in his attributes as a manager and as a person. The books details the pair's falling-out to an almost excruciating level, even going as far to call into question Keane's behaviour throughout the Saipan affair, exposing the smoke and mirrors which suggested that Ferguson was Keane's staunchest ally during that time. Keane hit back in true fashion, stating that Ferguson "doesn't know the meaning of loyalty" and what was once the strongest relationship in English football lay in pieces, irreparably damaged.
Main Image: TheTimes.co.uk