Ferguson was wrong to leave Keane out of Man Utd's 'world class' list - O'Neill

Sir Alex Ferguson left Roy Keane out of his 'world class' list of players he managed

MARTIN O'NEILL believes Sir Alex Ferguson's assessment of Roy Keane was unfair.

 

The former Manchester United boss said in September that he had only managed four 'world class' players in his time at Old Trafford.

Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs, Cristiano Ronaldo and Paul Scholes were all hailed by the Scot, with the likes of Keane and Peter Schmeichel both left out.

Despite the pair spending 12-and-a-half seasons together, their frosty relationship came to an end following Keane's exit from United in 2005.

 

But O'Neill insists Ferguson was wrong not to include Keane in his list of 'world class' players.

"Roy’s an iconic figure, and he’s been a world-class footballer, regardless of what Sir Alex Ferguson says," O'Neill said.

"He [Keane] was a world-class player because he influenced that great Manchester United side like you wouldn’t believe.

 

Martin O'Neill described Roy Keane as an 'iconic figure'

"He was the driving force of the team and when you are winning leagues and big cups and you have a driving force like that, I’m sorry but you can be classed as nothing else but world-class.

Keane and O'Neill successfully guided the Republic of Ireland to a place at next summer's European Championships following a 2-0 win over Bosnia-Herzegovina on Monday.