Roy Keane's withering attack on Jonathan Walters has been branded 'sad and unnecessary' by one of his former players.
And Shane Supple is not surprised that his former Ipswich Town boss is out of management with such carry on.
Keane went in two-footed on Walters last week at a live-audience event in Dublin.
They have history from when Walters played for Keane at Ipswich, and then last summer Mirror Sport revealed how they had an explosive bust-up on Ireland duty.
Last week, Keane said: “Imagine if Jon won a trophy. He talks a good game. He goes on the TV - on about how he was harshly treated by me.
“Not kicking a ball for Burnley for two or three years. On TV, crying about his family situation.
“You know, how about lying low for a while, taking it easy? Have a look at his medals? Wouldn’t take long.”
In a TV interview, Walters broke down discussing the death of his brother and mother, his wife’s miscarriage and his daughter’s scoliosis diagnosis.
Supple - who lived with Walters in their Ipswich days and who spoke to him this week - said: “I couldn’t believe what Roy said.
“It’s too low, it’s not right. Why would you go there? But he did. The environment he was in, he felt that’s what people wanted. But I don’t know why he’d do that.”
Asked if he was surprised at Keane, Supple said: “No, going on what we’ve seen down through the years.
“When he’s been in the media, it gets very persona; and I don’t think it’s right. I don’t know why he does it, why he questions career decisions, their family…..
“Johnny has done a lot of good for people because of what he’s come out and spoken about and I know it doesn’t bother him. He laughed about it.
“He’d do anything for you, run through a brick wall. There’s no bullshit with Johnny. He’s a really good, decent guy, and there’s not many over there.
“But it’s sad that someone of Roy’s stature feels he has to say something like that.”
Supple believes that Keane’s rant could scupper the route back into management that he craves as it portrays an old-school attitude.
“The world is changing, society is changing and managing is changing. It’s about understanding players and how to get the best out of them,” he continued.
“Look at Klopp, Guardiola and Southgate - they’re getting to understand players and how they’ve been brought up.
“What they’re dealing with is a lot different to what their managers would have dealt with when they were playing.
“And if you’re not adapting to that then certain managers aren’t going to last too long. Ruling with an iron fist doesn’t work anymore.”
Shane Supple was speaking at eir Sport’s season launch. You can see the Rugby World Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Allianz League, SSE Airtiricty League and Ireland U21 home qualifiers on the platform. Virgin Media Sport is now available on the eir Sport pack
If you haven't already, be sure to like our Irish Mirror Sport and Irish Mirror GAA pages on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
