Roy Keane slams Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United in player wage cut row

Roy Keane believes clubs should pay their players in full despite coronavirus pandemic. During coronavirus suspension, many clubs announced about their wage cuts. However, Keane advised players at big clubs to take notice of billionaire owners crying they have ‘cash flow’ problems. The former Manchester United player has pointed to his own experience dealing with Sir Alex Ferguson and other Manchester United chiefs when they wanted to keep costs down. "From my own experiences, from dealing with contracts at Forest and at Man United, when I was negotiating new deals or the day I was leaving the club, the clubs made it pretty clear to me on every of any contract negotiation I had that it was a business," Keane told Sky Sports. "I understood that but I signed a contract and I expected the clubs to honour that contract. I know circumstances have changed [due to coronavirus] and I’ll repeat myself, I’m talking about the clubs who have the money available to them. I’ve had discussions when I was at Nottingham Forest, I was literally on the same money for two and a half years, eventually I got a payrise and was told I was greedy. "I went to Man United, Man United discussed with me we can’t match Blackburn Rovers. Man United couldn’t match Blackburn Rovers, can you believe that? With the wages. Eventually, after a few years at United I signed a new contract, Man United sent out letters to supporters saying season tickets have gone up because of my contract. ‘The day I left the club I sat in front of Ferguson and Gill who discussed cash flow problems. Brilliant. "That’s the business side of it. So when the clubs come to the players now, and again, the bigger clubs who have got billionaires in the background, come to the clubs and saying, “listen we’re in big, big trouble”. No, no, no. You honour that contract. "And if players in the dressing room, and I was in a brilliant dressing room at Man United, we had a lot of different individuals, different characters, different traits, and if certain players wanted to give up their wages or certain players wanted to keep their wages, then good luck to them, that’s up the the individual. "So this idea that we should be getting these players to give up their wages, with the big, big clubs. Forget about it. Because these clubs are the first to tell you, “this is a business, lads. This is how it works”. Okay, let’s get through these next few months if we’re a business, and we’ll get through it. "These guys are millionaires in the background, they are ruthless, they are shrewd people, then they come looking to the players and they are discussing cash flow problems. I’ve heard it all before. Take no notice of it." Source: Metro

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