Roy Keane takes swipe at Michael Carrick's wife after criticising Man United appointments

James Cox

Roy Keane is never afraid of criticising Manchester United and new head coach Michael Carrick's wife was caught in the crossfire in the Corkman's latest tirade against his former club.

Keane was speaking about Carrick, who has been appointed as head coach until the end of the season after Ruben Amorim was sacked, on the Stick to Football podcast.

He said: "His wife can always come in [if Carrick doesn't do well], because she's got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She's probably doing the team talk."

Fans were baffled by the reference, but it dates back to an incident in 2014.

Keane was working as a pundit at the time, and he criticised Carrick for his performance in United's Champions League defeat to Olympiacos. 

Taking to Twitter, now X, Carrick's wife Lisa wrote: "Roy Keane what a ****, says anything to provoke a reaction."

Lisa subsequently deleted the tweet and apologised. "Deleted my tweet... Emotions got the better of me," she wrote. 

Keane clearly took note, waiting to get his response in.

Speaking on the podcast, he was also extremely critical of the coaching appointments for Carrick's management team.

Former England assistant Steve Holland, Carrick's former Middlesbrough assistant Jonathan Woodgate, United's former U21 coach Travis Binnion, and Carrick's former teammate Jonny Evans, are all on the coaching staff.

"He's on the beach two weeks ago, Jonny Evans," Keane said. "Jonny Evans leaves Man United four or five weeks ago as a loans manager and then Darren Fletcher gives him a job, strangely enough gives him a job."

Keane's co-host Gary Neville had praised the appointment of Holland, who also worked as a coach with Chelsea.

In response, Keane said: "You're on about getting your coaching staff in, you're praising one of them saying he's experienced and then we just let the other two go, Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans.

"What has Jonny Evans done to be a coach of Man United's first team? He left the job four weeks ago - loans manager, and ironically comes back working with the first team. That's a big step up, isn't it?"

Carrick faces a tough start with United facing second-place Manchester City in a derby on Saturday before a clash against Premier League leaders Arsenal next week.