Speaking on The Good, The Bad and The Football podcast, Nicky Butt admitted he “can’t get his head around” why Roy Keane has never been given a chance to manage Manchester United. Butt stressed he may be biased as a close friend, but argued that Keane’s personality, elite playing career and managerial pedigree made him an obvious option whenever the club were in crisis.
Butt highlighted that Keane still lives locally and understands the culture of the club, which makes it even more baffling to him that no serious conversation has taken place about the manager’s role in the last five years. For Butt, the failure even to sit Keane down and ask if he would be interested reflects a wider lack of imagination from those running United.
“He’s a manager, he manages people”
The key line from Butt’s comments captures how he views Keane: “He’s a manager, he manages people, he comes alive on match days.” Butt believes Keane is a classic Alex Ferguson-style figurehead who sets standards, makes big decisions and motivates players, rather than a laptop coach focused purely on tactical detail.
Crucially, Butt argued that Roy Keane is smart enough to surround himself with the right backroom team, bringing in high‑level coaches to cover any perceived weaknesses on the training ground. In Butt’s eyes, that mix of old‑school authority and willingness to delegate would have suited United in turbulent spells when the dressing room looked short of leadership.
Keane’s managerial record at Sunderland and Ipswich
Roy Keane moved into management with Sunderland in 2006 and immediately transformed a struggling Championship side, taking them from 23rd place to winning the title and promotion to the Premier League in his first season. That remarkable turnaround earned him the Championship Manager of the Year award and cemented his reputation as a manager who could inject belief and discipline into a squad.
In the Premier League, Roy Keane kept Sunderland up in 2007–08 but left in December 2008 with the team back in relegation trouble, illustrating both his impact and the volatility that can follow his intense approach. He later managed Ipswich Town between 2009 and 2011 in the Championship, where results were mixed and he was unable to repeat the Sunderland promotion miracle.
Roy Keane on the training ground and touchline
Those who worked with Keane at Sunderland often describe a manager who demanded absolute professionalism, punishing lapses in discipline, such as players turning up late by leaving them behind for away trips. That hard‑line stance mirrored his standards as a player and reinforced the perception that his greatest strengths lie in creating a ruthless, high-performing environment.
On match days, Keane was animated and deeply involved, constantly instructing players and reacting to the flow of the game. Butt’s claim that Keane “comes alive” on the touchline reflects how his presence and personality can lift a team, something United have occasionally lacked in the dugout since Ferguson left.
Why United never took the plunge
Since Ferguson’s 2013 retirement, United have cycled through different managerial profiles: serial winners, disciplinarians, project builders and tacticians, yet none have recreated the Scot’s long‑term authority. Butt’s remarks come at a time when current boss Rúben Amorim is already under scrutiny after an early setback despite a short unbeaten bounce, underlining how unstable the role has become.
Roy Keane has been linked with the job on and off over the years and even acknowledged being sounded out over an interim role at one point, but the club have never progressed talks to the stage of a formal offer. Concerns over his confrontational style, his explosive departure as a player and the modern demands of elite management are often cited as reasons why executives may have been wary.
Roy Keane’s relationship with Alex Ferguson and United
During his playing days, Roy Keane was United’s most successful captain, lifting nine major honours and embodying the intensity of Ferguson’s great sides. His leadership in midfield, especially during the late 1990s and early 2000s, has made him an enduring symbol of the club’s standards.
However, his relationship with Ferguson deteriorated in his final years at Old Trafford, culminating in a high‑profile departure in 2005 after clashes over training standards and his brutally critical comments about teammates in a club interview. Ferguson later rowed back from previously suggesting Roy Keane could one day manage United, warning that predicting managerial success is risky and the environment is unforgiving.
From dugout to TV studio
After Ipswich and his assistant role with the Republic of Ireland under Martin O’Neill, Keane gradually stepped away from frontline club management. He has since become one of the most prominent pundits in British football, known for sharp tactical observations and uncompromising verdicts on modern players’ mentality.
Keane has admitted that he would still be open to a suitable managerial opportunity, but he has also expressed reservations about certain roles and the constraints managers now face at the board level. That duality a desire to coach but a refusal to compromise his principles, has helped fuel the mythos around what a Keane-led United might have looked like.
Butt’s case: a Ferguson-style figurehead
For Butt, the appeal of appointing Keane lies not in complex tactical schemes but in restoring non‑negotiable standards at Manchester United. He believes Roy Keane, like Ferguson, would focus on man‑management, motivation and setting the culture, while empowering a specialist coaching team to handle detailed tactical and training work.
Butt also emphasised that Roy Keane is not naive about his own limitations and would actively seek the “this and that” he needed in staff and structure. That willingness to delegate undercuts the stereotype of Keane as a one‑man show and suggests a more modern, collaborative version of the Ferguson model that once dominated English football.
Fans’ fascination with a Roy Keane comeback
Recent coverage of Butt’s comments has sparked another wave of discussion among supporters already speculating about the club’s long‑term direction. For many, the idea of Keane in the dugout represents a fantasy of restored fear factor, accountability and pride, especially in the wake of inconsistent and sometimes passive United sides.
Others remain sceptical, pointing to his mixed club record, combustible personality and the complexity of modern elite coaching as reasons to doubt whether Keane would succeed over time. That split only adds to the intrigue – Keane has become the great “what if” of United’s post‑Ferguson era, and Butt’s comments ensure that question will not go away any time soon.
