News of the Screws:
Roy Keane and Sir Alex Ferguson are barely talking after an amazing training ground bust-up.
The Manchester United skipper hasn't travelled on the club's Far East tour — officially because he is injured.
But we can reveal stunned United players witnessed Keane have an incredible toe-to-toe confrontation with his manager last week because he has been infuriated by the club's pre-season plans.
A United insider confirmed: "Lots of the players saw them. It was a really ferocious row and you could see the pair of them were really shaken and badly wound up.
"As for Roy being injured, everyone was amazed he wasn't fit enough to join the Far East tour."
The row erupted when Keane joined a team bonding session in Portugal. The midfielder was annoyed he had to cancel a family holiday to attend the get-together — and was then incensed to find it wasn't a serious training exercise.
A United source said: "Roy was not happy about having to cut his holiday short but accepted the decision. What infuriated him was finding out that the trip to Portugal was more of a jolly. He felt if it was a training camp then it should be about serious work.
"In the end he lost it and made certain the manager knew exactly what he was thinking."
The Sunday Times:
Manchester United's preparations for the new season have been plunged under a cloud as it emerged Sir Alex Ferguson and his captain, Roy Keane, have had a public falling out. Ferguson and Keane had a furious row on the practice ground during the first week of United’s pre-season training programme in Portugal. The spat, witnessed by other players, has led to an estrangement between Keane and his manager.
The row centred on living arrangements in the Algarve, where Ferguson began United’s pre-season by taking his players on a week-long training break. Players’ families were invited along and before meeting up with the squad Keane had been holidaying with his wife and five children at his own villa nearby. When training began, Keane moved his family into the complex United had hired for the week but was unhappy to find arrangements there unsuitable for his young children. He moved his family back into their holiday villa — to the United manager’s considerable annoyance — and an argument ensued.
There is now speculation that Keane’s injury, which caused him to miss friendlies against Clyde and Peterborough, may not have been serious enough to cause him to miss the tour. That he has remained in Carrington training with United’s youngsters will inevitably be seen as Ferguson’s way of putting the midfielder in his place. Despite his almost boundless admiration for his captain, Ferguson has never brooked dissent from any player. Keane, for his part, was willing to travel if required on Friday, though he had reservations about the effect a 12-hour flight might have on his muscle strain, given his rehabilitation was incomplete.
The volcanic nature of both men’s personalities has led inevitably to fall-outs before, which have always been resolved, and there is no suggestion this one is serious enough to cause any damage that cannot be repaired to their 12-year working relationship. It is understood that their major differences have now been resolved, but tensions remain between the pair, who have spoken to one another only infrequently since. Sources close to both men expect them to put the matter aside when United return from the Far East next week. But resentments may linger.
The People:
Roy Keane has had a furious bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson.
The Manchester United skipper, who has stayed at home while his team-mates tour the Far East, clashed with Fergie at a pre-season training camp in Portugal.
And the pair have barely spoken since, fuelling speculation that Keane's absence from the four-match trip is not solely due to a reported hamstring injury.
A source told us: "Roy did have an argument with Sir Alex when the squad were in Portugal recently but they have had many disagreements and no doubt they will have them again because both are strong-willed characters who want success.
"This incident was no more significant than any of the others and the issue is now resolved.
"Roy was very close to being fit, but he hasn't travelled and he'll continue his pre-season preparations at Carrington."
Mail on Sunday:
Mystery surrounds the absence of Roy Keane from Manchester United's current Far East tour, with club officials refusing to comment on claims the Irishman was axed by Sir Alex Ferguson following a blazing row between the pair.
Officially, Keane was omitted because of a hamstring injury, but widespread reports have emerged of a bust-up at the Red Devils' training camp in Portugal three weeks ago, when the 33-year-old allegedly complained about players' families being invited onto the trip.
Ferguson had called his squad back a week earlier than usual, but with training on the Algarve restricted to half-daily sessions, the United boss decided to let wives and children accompany his squad for the duration of the week-long stay.
The move apparently did not go down well with Keane, who famously stormed out of Ireland's World Cup preparations in Japan three years ago after voicing sustained complaints over Mick McCarthy's training methods and the facilities available.
Ferguson's attention to detail is such that Keane is highly unlikely to have found any issue over the training complex itself. But what it is claimed annoyed the United skipper is attention being diverted away from preparations for the new season.
The Sunday Mirror with a headline 'United At War'
Sir Alex Ferguson has had a bust-up with Roy Keane which threatens to leave Manchester United's pre-season preparations in tatters.
Sunday Mirror Sport can reveal that Ferguson has not spoken to his captain for the last three weeks.
The pair were embroiled in a row over the decision to take the first-team squad and their families for a training camp in Portugal last month.
Keane felt families had no place close to the serious business of football and told Ferguson his opinion in no uncertain terms - only to be reminded by the Scot who is manager at Old Trafford.
Keane was left behind when United departed on their four-match tour of the Far East on Friday, with the club claiming he had suffered a hamstring strain. But the 33-year-old Irishman was put through a training session with the rest of his team-mates hours before the flight left Manchester and it seems he would have been fit to travel had Ferguson decided to take him.