‘WHERE'S THE LOONY GONE?'

‘In the four months in which he disappeared from our football fields, Roy Keane not only had his hip repaired but the surgeon also seems to have removed the vein that used to protrude from the side of his head. Without it, the obsessive, snarling Keane has turned into a curiously placid alternative and, quite frankly, the sooner Old Trafford welcomes back the old lunatic version the better it will be for Manchester United.

Presumably, in the long days of soul-searching that followed the 10th sending-off of his career - at Sunderland last August - and the Football Association investigation into his autobiography, Keane concluded he could not carry on bludgeoning people's limbs and feelings. Perhaps it was the letter from one United fan asking whether, having missed 29 games through suspension since 1995, he was trying to accumulate a season's worth of bans.

Keane returned with a promise that, at 31, it was time to modify his game. In doing so, he has lost sight of the assets that made him such a formidable opponent in the first place. In 12 appearances since he returned from the hip operation, there has hardly been a flash of temper or the first sight of the throbbing vein that used to pop out every time he went into Freddie Kruger mode. As ludicrous at it may seem, Keane has become the referee's friend and United have become weaker for it.’