Michael Carrick leads Manchester United for the first time since his appointment as head coach until the end of this season when Manchester City visit Old Trafford for Saturday's derby showdown.
Carrick is assured of the full, vocal backing of the Streford End, with a capacity crowd set to come together as one against a common enemy.
Such unity has not always been so easy to spot in the aftermath of Ruben Amorim's January 5 sacking as head coach.
A plethora of former United players have had their say on the latest period of tumult for the 20-time English champions, with Gary Neville, Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt from the celebrated Class of '92 among the familiar mouthpieces.
But another Old Trafford great has taken his share of the attention with an unusually pointed jibe sent in the former England midfielder's direction.
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Roy Keane feud with Michael Carrick's wife, explained
When discussing Carrick's appointment, Keane was derisive in his usual style as a regular guest on the Neville-hosted Stick To Football podcast.
"His wife can always come in [if Carrick doesn't do well], cause she's got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She's probably doing the team talk."
This unusual and, to be frank, needlessly nasty comment is a callback to 2014, when Keane criticised Carrick's performance a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Olympiacos.
Carrick's wife Lisa Roughhead posted on Twitter: "Roy Keane what a ****, says anything to provoke a reaction."
She later deleted the tweet and posted an apology that read: "Deleted my tweet… Emotions got the better of me."
Keane's displays of pettiness nurtured over more than a decade was a topic of questioning for Carrick at his first pre-match news conference as United boss.
"Honestly, it didn't bother me," he said.
"They [ex-United pundits] are not putting more pressure on me. I don't feel that. There are plenty of opinions around, some positive, some not too much. It's totally irrelevant in terms of what I focus on.
"There's a lot that can be said; it's the way of the world. I'm not going to pay too much attention to that. For me, the players and staff, we focus on how we're going to succeed."
Who is Michael Carrick's wife?
Michael Carrick and Lisa Roughead have been together since they were 15, having gone to school together in Newcastle.
The couple have two children, a daughter Louise and a son Jacey. Jacey Carrick is an academy player at Manchester United.
🚨🚨🎥 Jacey Carrick, son of Michael Carrick, comes on to make his debut for Manchester United Under-18s. #MUFC [@UnitedAnalyst7] pic.twitter.com/uBVoaI8PpL
— mufcmpb (@mufcMPB) December 6, 2025
Roy Keane criticises Man United interim boss Carrick
Other than the jibe towards Carrick's wife, Keane's main criticism concerned the coaching staff assembled around the new boss.
Alongside former England assistant manager Steve Holland, Carrick has kept on ex-United defender Jonny Evans — who worked with caretaker manager Darren Fletcher during his winless two-game stint following Amorim's departure — and brought in Jonathan Woodgate, who he worked with at Middlesbrough, and United academy coach Travis Binnion.
Speaking on Stick To Football, after Neville praised the credentials of Gareth Southgate's former No. 2 Holland, Keane replied: "What about the other coaches he's brought in?
"He's on the beach two weeks ago, Jonny Evans," Keane said. "Jonny Evans leaves Man United four or five weeks ago as the loans manager and then Darren Fletcher gives him a job, strangely enough. He has two games, Fletch goes and Carrick gives him a job, great isn't it? We should all go to Barbados for a week. You're on about getting your coaching staff in, you're praising one of them saying he's experienced and then we just let the other two go, Jonathan Woodgate and Jonny Evans.
"What has Jonny Evans done to be a coach of Man United's first team? That's a big step up, isn't it?"
Neville replied: "My point is, if Steve Holland is on the training pitch, at least you know they're going to get top-class training sessions. I'm not saying they weren't before because they probably were as well. I don't know what Jonny Evans or Jonathan Woodgate are like as coaches, don't know what Michael Carrick is like as a coach."
MORE: Man United "DNA" cannot replace Ruben Amorim and turn around Old Trafford malaise
Did Roy Keane and Michael Carrick play together at Man United?
Keane and Carrick did not play together for United, indeed Carrick was ostensibly signed as the Irishman's replacement.
An illustrious and trophy-laden 12 years for Keane at United ended abruptly in November 2005 when he left the club by mutual consent. Relations between then-manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his captain had become strained and an explosive interview on MUTV, where Keane criticised teammates John O'Shea, Alan Smith, Kieran Richardson, Darren Fletcher and Rio Ferdinand, was effectively the final straw. United's in-house television channel decided not to show the footage.
The following close season. United signed Carrick from Tottenham in a deal worth £18.6m – a fee that at the time made him the fifth most expensive player in United history behind Ferdinand, Juan Sebastian Veron, Wayne Rooney and Ruud van Nistelrooy. Carrick was given the No. 16 shirt vacated by Keane.