Simon Jordan defends Roy Keane over beef with Michael Carrick’s wife with subtle dig at another pundit

Simon Jordan has backed Roy Keane following the Man United legend’s controversial comments about Michael Carrick’s wife.

The talkSPORT host was full of praise for Keane despite his contentious outburst criticising Carrick’s other half and her ‘big mouth’, arguing his no-holds-barred punditry is ‘box office’.

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Carrick’s first game back as interim manager went beyond most fans’ wildest dreams, as his side outclassed Pep Guardiola‘s Man City in a compelling 2-0 win.

This impressive result came just four days after Carrick retook the helm of his old club, beating his former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjær to the job.

But in nervy week running up to the derby, club grandee Keane served up some distracting headlines, seeming to reignite a latent beef with interim Man United boss Carrick’s wife, which goes all the way back to 2014.

After the Red Devils lost 2-0 to Olympiacos in the Champions League 12 years ago, the treble winner put Carrick on blast calling his post-match interview ‘flat’.

Clearly not keen on the pundit’s critique, Michael Carrick’s wife Lisa Roughead took to twitter, saying: “Roy Keane what a ****, says anything to provoke a reaction.. That’s all… Done.”

She then swiftly took the tweet down.

Demonstrating his elephant-esque memory and almost impressive capacity for revenge on and off the field, Keane brought up Roughead on the Stick to Football podcast, after criticising Carrick and his choice of staff.

He said: “His wife can always come in [if Carrick doesn’t do well], because she’s got a bit of a big mouth sometimes. She’s probably doing the team talk.”

Keane’s barbed language had the rare effect of leaving Gary Neville speechless, but not talkSPORT presenter and ex-Crystal Palace owner Simon Jordan.

When asked by Jim White if Keane had taken it too far, Jordan staunchly defended the Irishman: “Roy? Listen, Roy Keane is what he is. He says what he thinks. He doesn’t hold back. And that’s what makes him box office when he’s on television a lot of the time.

“That’s what makes him cut through the endless load of old vanilla tripe that we have to listen to his cohorts and people like Ian Wright, and you get to hear real things from Roy Keane.

“Whether you agree with them or not, he says what he thinks. And I don’t think he necessarily needs to settle scores. But part of his makeup, the unique makeup that made him the player that he was – and makes him sometimes the pundit that he is – is that he doesn’t have a filter. He doesn’t care.

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“He don’t care what you think. He don’t care what anyone thinks. He says what he thinks. And I like that.”

Whatever the weight of Keane’s words on the new Man United gaffer may be, he has a big few months ahead.

For his second game in charge, he has to take his side down south to take on league leaders Arsenal.

And though they can take heart from their home performance, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta’s side will hope to offer more defensively than their noisy neighbours were able to.

After the baptism of fire comes to an end, the ex-United player will need to prove his players can perform against opposition further down the table.

INEOS and the wider Man United hierarchy view a European spot as essential, with Carrick’s side now sitting in fifth place.