Ex-Sunderland bosses Roy Keane & Martin O’Neill cheekily clash over ‘shocker’ decision from Aston Villa tussle

 

Ex-Sunderland bosses Roy Keane & Martin O’Neill cheekily clash over ‘shocker’ decision from Aston Villa tussle

Ex-Sunderland bosses Roy Keane & Martin O’Neill cheekily clash over ‘shocker’ decision from Aston Villa tussle The former Sunderland managers have been reminiscing about a clash at the Stadium of Light.

Former Sunderland managers Roy Keane and Martin O’Neill have exchanged cheeky jibes over a contentious decision that was awarded against the Black Cats while the latter was manager of Aston Villa. O’Neill spent a little over a year in the dugout at the Stadium of Light between the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2013, but prior to his stint on Wearside, enjoyed a largely successful spell with Villa between 2006 and 2010. That tenure overlapped with Keane’s own time in the north east, during which he guided Sunderland to promotion and kept them in the Premier League at the first time of asking. As a consequence, the two crossed paths on a couple of occasions, with one particularly sore incident still sticking in Keane’s craw. In December 2007, with the Black Cats mired in a relegation battle, O’Neill took his side to the Stadium of Light, and had to rely on a Shaun Maloney free-kick to rescue a point in a 1-1 draw. The Echo has launched a new WhatsApp SAFC Channel to bring the latest news, analysis and team & injury updates direct to your phone. Simply click this link to join our SAFC WhatsApp channel. But while the contest may have taken place some 17 years ago, Keane is still not happy about the foul that led to Maloney’s goal in the first place. During an interview on the latest episode of the Stick to Football podcast, the Irishman – mistakenly

remembering the incident as an errant penalty call, rather than a free-kick – said: “When I was manager of Sunderland, Aston Villa got a penalty up at Sunderland one night. It was a shocker. Wasn’t it, Martin?”, to which O’Neill responded: “No.” Keane added: “It shouldn’t have been a penalty. Villa had big decisions against Sunderland. It kind of evens itself out.” O’Neill then chimed in fully on the matter, exercising some poetic licence of his own. The ex-Sunderland boss joked: “Roy’s never forgiven that. The penalty, it was definitely a penalty. [Gabby] Agbonlahor had both legs broken in the penalty box, and Roy thought it wasn’t a penalty. You got your own back. You beat us. You beat us one day.” Keane replied: “Did I chase him [the referee] down the tunnel, Martin? I didn’t. Did I have a few words with him?”, to which O’Neill added: “It was madness.” The pair, who have since worked together for the Republic of Ireland and Nottingham Forest, were then asked by Ian Wright whether they got on during their days as managerial rivals, to which O’Neill replied: “We didn’t really know each other too well. Does anybody know Roy? He got mad. He got mad over a decision, and he chased the referee up the tunnel at the Stadium of Light.” In response, Keane quipped: “And then I saw the referee after the game getting on the Villa bus.” Getting the last word in, O’Neill added: “We gave him a lift to Durham.”

Read more at: https://sportupdates.co.uk