EURO 2012 ENGLAND:ROY KEANE has suggested that Gary Neville was not as influential in the Manchester United dressingroom as many assume and has expressed surprise that he will combine his media work with a role on Roy Hodgson's England coaching staff.

Neville built a reputation for having a strong personality as a player, not least when he led a proposed strike by the England squad in 2003, and has also earned respect for his forthright opinions as a TV pundit.

However, Keane, who was Neville’s captain at United for eight years, does not expect his former team-mate to be a dominant figure with England.

“It’s important you are yourself,” said Keane. “Listen, Gary can talk, but don’t think for one minute he was as influential in the dressingroom as people might think he was. Gary would say his piece but he wasn’t running the show. Far from it.

“So don’t think for one minute he will be going into England and calling the shots. He will be learning his trade and being a link between the manager and the players, and I think he will be good at that.”

The English Football Association has no problem with Neville continuing in his role as Sky’s lead pundit for Champions League and Premier League matches, or his column in The Mail on Sunday, yet Keane has questioned the wisdom of combining the roles.

“I’m surprised he has kept his role with doing TV,” the Cork man said. “That can be difficult. You can get your way around criticising players by saying: ‘I’d expect the player to do better.’

“He probably won’t be as critical as me and speak in the terms I do [on ITV].

“I know Gareth [Southgate] does it but he’s not in the dressingroom, he’s not on the training pitch, he’s not working with the players.”

Guardian Service