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Gabby Agbonlahor slams ‘disrespectful’ Roy Keane live on talkSPORT amid Sunderland links

Gabby Agbonlahor slams ‘disrespectful’ Roy Keane live on talkSPORT amid Sunderland links with the manager’s job up for grabs.

Keane, who currently works as a pundit for Sky Sports, has been linked with a surprise return to management and a move back to the League One side.

Agbonlahor knows first hand what the former midfielder is like in a coaching role, after he spent a brief spell as Paul Lambert’s assistant at Aston Villa.

Gabby, who is Villa’s all-time Premier League top scorer with 74 goals, revealed the ‘disrespectful’ way Keane would speak to players, while also got into a row with him.

“The problem with Roy Keane was that when he came to Aston Villa, he couldn’t understand that we weren’t as good as the players he played with,” Agbonlahor told talkSPORT Breakfast.

“He couldn’t accept that we weren’t going to be as good as Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes, David Beckham and those players.

“Just his way of coaching, it wasn’t the right method for players nowadays, for players when he was at Aston Villa.

“Just the way he spoke to players. There were times when there were quite experienced players, people like Joe Cole, and he didn’t speak to them right.

“He spoke to them in a way that was disrespectful. His man management would be zero out of 100. It was that bad.

“There was a time in training when we were doing a shooting drill. Imagine all 22 players doing a shooting drill, you’ve got to pass it to five players before you get a cross in.

“We hadn’t had a shot for 11 or 12 minutes, you are going to be getting cold and frustrated, so the standard wasn’t very good.

“The gaffer, Paul Lambert, calls us in and Roy Keane is there as well. Lambert says the standard isn’t good enough.

“Me, as captain, I had to come forward and back the players saying we only get one shot every 11 or 12 minutes and we need to do something different.

“Roy Keane comes forward and says ‘oh, are you cold? Do you want another warm up?’

“I said, ‘I’m not talking to you, Roy. I’m talking to the manager’. He gave me that evil stare and the next day he left.

“At that time at Aston Villa, he left because of me.

“I was at Villa for so long. I was captain and it was my club, I wasn’t going to let anyone come in and try to bully me at my club.

“Afterwards, even now, I’m happy it happened.”

When asked what Lambert said afterwards, Agbonlahor said: “He was fine. I think he understood that Roy’s way of coaching, you just can’t do that with the players.”

He continued: “Maybe it just wasn’t working for him there. His ways of speaking to people weren’t right. That was six or seven years ago, you can’t speak to players like that anymore. You are going to lose them.

“You’ve seen managers in the Premier League do it and end up leaving.

“His way of management I just don’t think is right. It’s alright on Sky when you can hammer people.”

Keane spent two-and-a-half years as Sunderland boss, guiding them to the Championship title in the 2006/07 season.

Agbonlahor warned that Keane could have a detrimental effect.

He said: “If I’m a Sunderland owner I would be thinking twice. He might go in there and make them even worse.

“If you are a player now, especially a young player, you give the ball away in training and some of them need an arm around them. Roy is the sort of player who will say ‘you are rubbish, get out of here’.

“He doesn’t speak to players in the right way. Yes, one of the best midfielders in the Premier League but that doesn’t make you a good coach or manager.”

Twitter users reacted as Gabby Agbonlahor slams ‘disrespectful’ Roy Keane live on talkSPORT amid Sunderland links…

@jimmyhillish: No Gabby, you mean he told you what he thought of you and you didn’t like it. 👍🏻

@JWWads2011: Man management 0/100? Yet he ‘managed’ a treble winning dressing room for years. If you don’t have the desire to want to make it at the top and won’t listen to those that know how…best of luck!

@BrendanH3: No Gabby it wasn’t that he couldn’t understand or accept that the Villa players weren’t as good as what he played with at United. What he couldn’t understand or accept was that the Villa players didn’t put in the same level of effort as those players. That Villa squad was brutal.

@lewjt11: The problem with Aston Villa when Roy Keane arrived; is that the players couldn’t give a shit and wanted to do the bare minimum. Gabby being a perfect example.

@tbelly7: Think Keane actually said there were some players at Villa who were amongst the most unprofessional he’d ever come across… he never named names….

@ReeceJMT: They really do let anyone in talksport these days

@harrmn: Only one person was showing disrespect in that conversation, lack of self awareness is shocking too, even thinks Keane leaving was a victory Rolling on the floor laughing

@ShaneTregale: I remember Keane saying on the overlap that the Villa squad was one of the most unprofessional he’s ever worked with. A couple lads “who are now working in the media” were among the worst….

@durhamchris1983: so you call Roy Keane disrespectful then go on a little rant and explain how you were disrespectful……..

@kayum89: I gotta say gabby’s punditry is 0/100 to be fair!

@Fozzie94: Sounds like Keane sussed out this slacker early on

@Russell19871: Funny that he got SAFC promoted on his first season. Probably called rent a gob agbonlahor out for what he is. Gabby should be a manager he’s an expert on everything

@BryanCassidy_: I don’t think Roy Keane’s frustration would be that the players were not as good as the players he played alongside. I think his frustration would be that the professional standards weren’t the same as the players he played alongside

@MackemNeil84: Calls Roy Keane disrespectful, gives anicdote of him being disrespectful to his coach🤦🏻‍♂️

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