Jackie McNamara was left in no doubt as to Roy Keane’s menacing presence when he inadvertently got caught between the Irishman and his nemesis Mick McCarthy.
And the Celtic icon is equally certain Keane’s abrupt touchline manner would go down a storm with Hoops supporters.
He’s just not sure it would be to everyone’s liking in the dressing room.
Keane is back among the frontrunners to replace Neil Lennon at Parkhead seven years after coming close to doing exactly that when the Northern Irishman ended his first stint in charge.
McNamara thinks the 49-year-old former Sunderland and Ipswich boss would be a good fit despite not having been in charge of a club for a decade.
And he remembers seeing first hand Keane’s brutally carefree attitude when he was a bystander in the first confrontation between his ex-Wolves boss McCarthy and the then Sunderland boss five years after their infamous Ireland Saipan set-to.
“I wouldn’t mind Roy Keane,” McNamara told 67 Hail Hail. “I liked him as a player and like him as a pundit.
“He doesn’t mess about with his words. I think he would do a good job, I’ve no doubt about that.
“I always liked him as a player and came up against him when he was manager at Sunderland and I was at Wolverhampton.
“Big Mick was the manager of Wolves. It was an awkward moment between the two of them, I was talking to Mick and Roy came out..
“He speaks his mind, he’s not really bothered who he upsets on the way to a win.”
Keane spoke with Hoops majority shareholder Dermot Desmond in 2014 about succeeding Lennon but later claimed in his autobiography that the discussions “failed to rock my boat”.
McNamara added: “Maybe he’s got regrets about not taking it and wants a shot at it. I would have no problems with him coming in. I think he’d do a good job.
“I understand certain bits - he’s been out of club management for so long. He’d lean towards to the older-school approach. Some players don’t respond to that now.
“At the same time, the fans would want that passion and win those battles.”
Manchester City Academy chief Enzo Maresca is another favourite for the job after spending this season working under Pep Guardiola at the Etihad.
The 41-year-old Italian - best known for spells with Sevilla, Juventus and West Brom during his playing career - also had a year as assistant boss to Manuel Pellegrini at West Ham in 2018-19.
The link with Fergal Harkin - currently football partnerships manager at Man City - to the Celtic director of football job increases speculation surrounding Maresca.
And McNamara said: “The Under-23 league doesn’t interest me at all. There’s no crowds, no pressure. Man City you’d expect to have the best young talent about.
“But he might be a good coach, and he’s learning from some top managers. You’d hope he’s hungry to go and do it himself at a big club like Celtic.
“It does look like there’s something in things, when you see it come round and round. Fergal Harkin, the Man City connection. It looks like there’s something in that.
“Again, you don’t know what the guy would be like until he took a top job himself.”
