Gary Neville has theory over why Roy Keane's Celtic stint was doomed amid Man Utd hero's extreme Hoops routine

Gary Neville has a hunch on why Roy Keane’s last career dance with Celtic ultimately proved to not be a resounding success.

The Irishman is one of English football’s more recognisable midfielders after time at Nottingham Forest and a legendary stint with Manchester United. After time at Man Utd was done, Keane made the move to Celtic in 2005 and retired in 2006 as injuries proved a complication and limited his Hoops impact to an extent.

His time in Glasgow was a talking point on the latest Overlap show where he appeared alongside Man Utd legend Gary Neville. The former right-back was talking travel having an impact on players and Keane revealed he was driving from England all the way to Scotland for training rather than totally relocate.

Roy Keane’s extreme Celtic routine

Keane said of his lengthy travel routine: “I done it at Celtic. So when I left United or whatever and I went to Celtic in December and the last four or five months of my time up at Celtic where I was commuting and driving off, sometimes flying to Edinburgh, driving out to train.”

G Neville replied with “You were driving from Celtic from here?” and Keane continued: “Yeah, I would drive in the morning for a training then I'd stay the night. I'd have to leave at five, no, about six o'clock and I tore my hamstring three times in, what, five, six months I was at Celtic.”

Jill Scott asked if it was down to the driving and Neville was convinced his Celtic woe was down to the travel. He said: “Definitely. There's one thing that will guarantee you getting injured. There's one thing that will guarantee you getting injured, right? Having a drink on a Saturday night, you get a good chance to get an injury on a Monday. I did my medial ligament once after a drink on a Saturday night and I thought, what am I doing? And then traveling is the other thing that will bring you injury, guarantee. They guarantee to bring you injury.”

Keane’s Celtic stay

Former Celtic boss Gordon Strachan told the BBC at the time when Keane’s injury woe forced retirement: "Roy Keane is one of the greatest players to grace the game of football. It was fantastic that we were able to bring him to Celtic and it has been a privilege to work with him. Even in his short time with the club, Roy made a great contribution and played an important part in bringing success to the club last season.

"We were delighted to make Roy's dream come true when we signed him for Celtic and we were happy when he made our dream come true by helping us to win the title. Roy's retirement will be a loss to Celtic and, of course, a loss to football in general. We would all like to wish Roy and his family all the best for the future. Roy will always be welcome at Celtic Park."