Newcastle legend Alan Shearer joked that he would have knocked out ex-Manchester United hothead Roy Keane if he'd been given the chance following their infamous spat in 2001.
Despite appearing chummy together on Match Of The Day on a number of occasions, during the nineties and early noughties, the relationship between former Newcastle United captain Alan Shearer and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane was always rocky, according to Goal.com.
Also read: Sergio Aguero says he is 'ready' after completing full training with Manchester City
Reminiscing on some rough incidents throughout his career during a recent podcast with The True Geordie, as per the Esquire, Shearer harked back to his own notorious red card when he kicked Neil Lennon in the face back in 1998 before claiming a post-match meeting with Keane 'would have been interesting'.
"You had to look after yourself, definitely," Shearer began.
"I always gave as good as I got – I was hard and most of the time I was fair. Neil Lennon deserved it, he was stupid for heading my foot! Nah, I just kicked out, didn't mean to kick him in the head and I panicked when I saw it."
The Magpies icon recalled a notorious spat with the ex-Red Devil and jested that he would have gotten the better of him in a real fight. It famously came to a head during the final minutes of a match at St James' Park in 2001 when Shearer conceded a throw-in while trying to run down the clock. With Newcastle 4-3 up, Keane wasn't best pleased. He picked up the ball at threw it at Shearer.
Words were exchanged, and in typically calm fashion, Keane swung a punch at Shearer, earning himself a red card.
"I think I did an FA Cup game with Roy Keane [after we'd both retired] – we got on fine, had a laugh and a joke. He's another one who I had some great battles with. He punched me in the face once, at St James' Park, didn't he?" Shearer said.
"He got that red card, he walked off the pitch, it was the last minute of the game and he'd been given the red card, and he was waiting for me at the top of the tunnel. Of course, we tried to get each other and we couldn't, it was like hold me back, don't hold me back, but we couldn't get to each other, it would have been interesting."
Asked if he'd have knocked out Keane, Shearer replied: "Of course I would have."
