Jason McAteer predicts that Roy Keane won’t come come out of new Saipan movie too well.
A film on Keane’s infamous fall-out with Mick McCarthy ahead of the 2002 World Cup will be released in 2025, with Steve Coogan playing the former Ireland boss, while Éanna Hardwicke will star as the Manchester United legend.
McAteer was part of the Ireland squad for the tournament and was present for the argument between McCarthy and Keane which led to the then captain leaving the squad shortly before the competition started.
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“I got a text of a mate who was an actor in Ireland and he text me out of the blue and asked me if the image he sent me looked like someone who could play me in a movie. Obviously it was Brad Pitt, joked McAteer on the BBC’s Sacked in the Morning podcast.
“He said they’re making a film about Saipan and I was like ‘shut up’. I asked was it a documentary and he went ‘no, it’s a big movie’. Steve Coogan is playing Mick McCarthy.
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“It’s going to be a blockbuster and I don’t think Roy is going to come out of this too well, to be honest.”
McAteer claimed there was “there was always tension between Roy and Mick” that “went back from when they played together”.
(Image: ©INPHO/Andrew Paton)
He added: “When Mick was captain and Roy was a young kid, they clashed a number of times.
“Then Mick got the manager’s job and Roy became one of the best midfielders in the world, so it was always a difficult relationship.
“We were struggling with jet lag and tiredness and there were a few things that needed ironing out.
“Unfortunately, it escalated to the point where, in a team meeting, Mick and Roy decided to air their views of each other, which didn’t go down very well.
“It just got to the point where it was a slagging match in the dressing room.
“I’d been involved in fights in dressing rooms. I’d seen managers lose their temper. I’d seen players throw punches, but I’d never been involved in an argument which escalated to such a point where one of them was gonna snap – and they did. And it was Roy. He decided to go home.
“What followed was just ridiculous. The country was split in half, it got political, players were dragged into it. We weren’t allowed out of the hotel, we weren’t allowed out to talk to the press.
“It soured the situation, to be honest. I’d been involved in World Cup ’94, which was the best six weeks of my life.
“The World Cup is amazing and we’d earned the right to be there again. It was there to be enjoyed and unfortunately, this overshadowed everything.”
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