Sky Sports will not beef up its pundits’ security after Roy Keane’s altercation with a fan on Sunday.
The former Manchester United captain offered to meet an Ipswich supporter who had been cornering him in the car park after his former team’s 1-1 draw at Portman Road.
Keane, a former Ipswich manager, confronted the supporter during an advert break in Sky’s coverage, before being guided by fellow pundit Jamie Redknapp and a member of the broadcaster’s production team.
However, Mail Sport understands that Sky are happy with the protection offered to Keane and company and have no plans to change their current set-up.
As this newspaper revealed last year, bodyguards have been hired for certain matches after Keane was headbutted in an Arsenal hospitality area. The Republic of Ireland international confronted a man at the top of the Emirates West Stand as he waited for a lift to take him to the side of the pitch.
Sky carries out a risk assessment at every match and, for those deemed high risk, security staff accompany experts through public areas. When it comes to abuse from the stands, there is little they can do and experts have been known to expect torrid moments on certain grounds.
Roy Keane has hit back at an Ipswich fan who abused him at Portman Road on Sunday night.
Sky Sports will not beef up security for its experts after Man United legend’s heated clash
Keane was carrying out pundit duties for Sky Sports on Sunday night during Ruben Amorim’s first game in charge of Manchester United, and was subjected to abuse shortly after full-time.
This weekend, Sky will screen Liverpool’s clash against Manchester City. The expectation is that the match will be considered of a sufficient level of risk to ensure that a high level of protection is provided to its lineup. Keane and Gary Neville both played for United, Liverpool’s main rivals, while there is no love lost for the pair among City fans either.
Sky spoke to Keane after the incident in Suffolk, with versions of events taken from the rest of their line-up, which included Redknapp, Kelly Cates and Izzy Christiansen. The station declined to expand on those conversations, although they are understood to be sympathetic to the position he was in. Indeed, the decision to put Keane on the pitch, at a club where he spent nearly two mostly unhappy years before being sacked. , may well have been considered reckless.
Witnesses say Keane was subjected to continuous abuse from a group of home fans who “consistently overstepped the mark”.
One fan, Neil Finbow, has posted his “new claim to fame” on social media, boasting about being “offered to the car park by Roy Keane after just a few words”.
When asked what sparked the confrontation, Finbow proudly claimed that he mocked Keane over his failure at Ipswich along with other issues such as his infamous tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland.
“I reminded him that he set us (Ipswich) back five years and ruined our football club,” Finbow posted. “I also mentioned that I was not in a position to set foot (sic) near our soil.”
The Ipswich fan also said he made reference to Keane’s departure from the Ireland camp in the 2002 World Cup.
“I hate that guy and it’s been simmering since he was sacked all those years ago,” he added, for good measure, although he later claimed to Mail Sport that he “never got personal” and had only said: “You’re a better expert than you.” as a manager.
One of the supporters involved at Ipswich has since been identified as Neil Finbow (above)
An Arsenal fan was banned in June for headbutting Keane after a Man United match last year.
The former Red Devils midfielder told the court he was left “in shock” after the fan attack.
It would seem that, in the digital age, where large sections of the population yearn to be the center of attention, these types of incidents are on the rise.
Neville is a regular target for morons and has had drinks thrown at him outside the Etihad Stadium. Social media is often a cesspool of vile opinions, many of them directed at experts.
If the nation wants to ensure that these people continue to entertain us, then a conversation about a collective showdown may be necessary.
Asked if he saw himself continuing for a decade, Keane recently said: “I’m going to struggle for the next 10 months doing this.” I love football, but the hassle of the games, getting to the games, the hassle of the fans… I was in court a few months ago and someone head-butted me.
‘Do you think I enjoy that side of this? At all. The games are fine (but) getting to the games, parking, people yelling your name, good things, bad things, it’s a pain. Be an expert in 10 years? No.’
Following that incident, in the Emirates, Scott Law, 43, of Waltham Abbey Essex, was given a three-year banning order and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work for what a court found to be an “act of gratuitous and senseless violence”. after Arsenal’s 3-1 victory over United.
Keane had been walking around the stadium with Micah Richards as they both attempted to take their positions for the post-match analysis. Testifying in court, the 53-year-old said: “We missed the last two goals but that was the least of my worries.”
He added: “There was a bit of confusion, a lot of people, a lot of noise, shouting, as expected, five or ten minutes before the end of the football game.” Before I knew it, they hit me. I just felt the contact and fell through some doors.
Keane maintains a strained relationship with many Ipswich fans following his time as manager at the club.
The Manchester United legend joined Ipswich in 2009 and was then sacked in January 2011.
‘The only way I can describe it is, without a doubt, shock. “I didn’t expect that to happen, not when I was in the workplace.”
Keane’s point is valid. For him, Neville and the others, the football field or the studio is the workplace.
“Do your job,” Keane often says. He should not be abused for doing his own thing.