Roy Keane is like Saddam Hussein, according to Alf-Inge Haaland
Posted Wednesday, October 08, 2014 by Dailystar.co.uk
ALF-INGE HAALAND has re-ignited his bitter feud with Roy Keane after comparing the former Manchester United skipper to crackpot dictator Saddam Hussein.
Former Norway international Haaland has been a sworn enemy of Keane's ever since the infamous tackle by the ex-United midfield enforcer which he claimed ended his career.
Keane, now assistant manager at Aston Villa and with the Republic of Ireland, admitted in his first book that he had deliberately set out to injure the former Manchester City and Leeds star.
Now, in a follow up volume 'The Second Half' Keane re-ignited the feud by claiming: "There are things in my life I regret and he is not one of them."
After the latest tirade by Keane, Haaland was prompted for a reaction by his followers on Twitter.
And Haaland did not disappoint, posting: "Can't take a man seriously when he's got a beard like...' with a picture of deceased Iraqi tyrant Hussein attached.
Controversial Keane's bushy black and grey beard has been a talking point in the game for a while.
At first it appeared Haaland had performed a u-turn by deleting the tweet.
But he later explained the apparent change of heart by tweeting: "Sorry for deleting my tweet last night. I had to. SH's family did not want to be associated with your former leader."
Haaland never played a full game after the brutal lunge to his knee by Keane, although he eventually dropped a £6m lawsuit for damages.
Keane has never forgiven Haaland for standing over him claiming he was faking injury after a challenge between the two left the United man with ruptured knee ligaments.
Four years later Keane exacted his revenge and clearly, 13 years later, is in no mood to apologise.
And Haaland's memory is clearly just as long as Keane's as he followed up his Twitter blast with a statement to Norwegian television.
He said: "I haven't actually said anything. I just said that I don't take his comments seriously.
"There's no use getting on your high horse and saying that everybody else is an idiot if they don't agree with you."
Keane's explosive book has grabbed the headlines after a Tesco store accidentally put it sale before its scheduled release tomorrow.
But the 43-year-old will go ahead with the launch at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
And Republic boss Martin O'Neill insisted the furore surrounding the book has not affect his side's preparation for the forthcoming Euro 2016 qualifiers against Gibraltar and Germany.
"I genuinely don't know what the headlines are in the book," O'Neill claimed.
"It obviously was going to cause some sort of furore at some stage or another.
"It's there and it doesn't matter. The games are the most important things for us."
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