Roy Keane faces calls for him to be sacked as assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland by arguably the country's two most respected former players, Johnny Giles and Liam Brady.
The fiery Keane -- who infamously was sent home from Ireland's pre-2002 World Cup training camp following a tirade of abuse aimed at then-manager Mick McCarthy in front of the rest of the squad -- is under fire over a recording which allegedly has him swearing at midfielder Harry Arter and veteran striker Jonathan Walters in a training ground bust-up earlier this year as they prepared for friendlies with France and the United States.
The revelations came to light through a voicemail Irish defender Stephen Ward shared with friends and which was later leaked to social media. Walters apparently came close to blows with Keane whilst Arter walked off with a volley of abuse ringing in his ears as Keane questioned whether he was injured.
Ward was not present during the separate incidents and Keane was said by manager Martin O'Neill to be 'a little bit disappointed' at how the second hand accounts as related by the player had emerged into the public glare.
Both Giles and Brady -- like Keane a rare breed in being world class players produced by Ireland -- were unequivocal about Keane being out of order.
"Roy Keane is there to assist the manager. This type of thing shouldn't happen at the best of times," Giles was quoted as saying in The Times.
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"Players who are really injured, unless they are kidding, need a lot of sympathy and a lot of help.
"As assistant manager he should be helping Martin and, in the Arter case, he hasn't helped him at all.
"Is he (Keane) equipped to be an assistant manager? Definitely not," added the 77-year-old former Manchester United and Leeds United star, who won 59 caps.
- 'This has got to stop' -
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