Manchester United legend Roy Keane reignited his heated rivalry with Peter Schmeichel after he admirably stood up for a youngster at the Premier League club.
Keane, who is considered one of the best Premier League midfielders of all time, has pulled no punches towards Schmeichel in the past and even called his former United teammate “overrated.”
The 51-year-old Irish hardman also clashed with Schmeichel in a now-infamous brawl during a United pre-season tour of Asia in 1998.
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Dessie Baker, who was a trainee at the United youth academy during the 1990s, carried out chores for the first-team players like cleaning their boots.
And the 45-year-old Irishman’s cleaning chores would land him in the middle of a huge row between Keane and Schmeichel.
“I remember putting the boots down one day. The dressing room was packed with all the first-team players,” Baker told the Irish Mirror.
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“I was walking out of the room and Peter Schmeichel said to me, ‘Irish.’
“I looked back and I went back to him. Everybody was looking at me, all the first-team players. I was like, ‘Oh my God.’
“He said something like, ‘Can I see my face in these boots?’
“I was all panicky. I got all nervous. ‘I don’t know,’ I said.
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“‘Do them properly,’ he said, ‘and get me some tea and toast.’”
Keane leapt to the defence of Baker and was ruthless with his choice of words towards the 59-year-old Dane in the United dressing room.
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Baker admitted that it was his “first encounter” with the former United captain and he felt Keane was “looking after me straight” away.
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“I was walking out of the changing room and Roy stood up,” he recalled.
“‘Excuse me, Dessie, isn’t it?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Come here for a second.’
“They never really saw eye to eye, Roy and Schmeichel. It was true. There were always bits and bobs like that happening.
“Anyway, Roy pushed back and said, ‘Here, his name is not Irish, it’s f*****g Dessie. If you’ve got a problem with your boots, then tell him, don’t be smart.’
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“He turned to me. ‘Don’t get him tea and toast, he’ll get his own tea and toast.’
“You can imagine my face. I was only a pimply teenager, but you can imagine my face going purple at this stage.
“Roy says, ‘Go on, I’ll talk to you later.’
“So that was the first encounter I really had with Roy. It was like he was looking after me straight away from the get-go.”
Baker left United without making a single first-team appearance and went on to play for the likes of Shelbourne, Longford Town and Shamrock Rovers.
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Topics: Roy Keane, Peter Schmeichel, Manchester United, Premier League, England, Football
Adnan Riaz