EXCLUSIVE
Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony would avoid giving Roy Keane a manager's job for fear of what today's footballers would make of him.
After a glittering career that saw him win seven Premier League titles and the Champions League at Manchester United, Keane moved into the dugout and was hired as Sunderland boss in 2006.
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He won the Championship title in his first season to take them back to the Premier League before stepping down in December 2008, with Ipswich Town later becoming his second club.
Keane left Portman Road in 2011 and he took up subsequent roles as assistant manager with the Republic of Ireland, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.
The 52-year-old expresses his straight-talking views as a pundit and despite his succes past success in the dugout, Posh chief MacAnthony would worry about a culture clash.
"No, no, not for me," he responded on White and Jordan when a talkSPORT listener asked about such a prospect occurring.
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"I love listening to him on ITV, I love all of that, but no way. I know he did phenomenally at Sunderland, he won promotion with them, they went on the run and won the league and got to the Premier League.
"But I think we have to look at this - and it drives me mad sometimes - generations today have changed from footballers ten, 15, 20 years ago.
"I said to Darren [Ferguson] my manager the other day, 'Darren, you could've said x to a player 15 years ago and he'd have no problem with it, you'd have given a slap down and the player would come in the next day and train magnificently.'
"You did that to one of these young generation players now, they are, I'm not going to use the word weak, but they are a little bit fickle, a little bit fragile.
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"And the player won't show up the next day, his agent will probably be ringing, the PFA will be on, they'll be worried about his mental health, they'll be worried about this, worried about that.
"It's very different now the way you deal with young people, the way I bring my children up is very different to how other people bring up their kids now. I'm trying to teach my children to have thicker skin.
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"I'm trying to teach my children basically like, 'This is the real world you're in here and it's not so nice and not full of sunshine every day.' And I just think footballers now are little bit different than 20 years ago.
"Roy Keane would frighten the life out of every player under the age of 23, in my opinion, in a football team.
"The average age of our team is 22 so they'll probably all stick in transfer requests after two weeks and he'd lose his rag with them."
MacAnthony added: "I think there are certain horses for courses, I'm not saying Roy Keane can't manage again.
"I'm not sure the money he earns in broadcasting, you get paid the same to be a manager, hence why he has little hope of probably managing again. A great pundit, great ex-player, I'm not sure he's a magnificent manager."
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Keane had been linked with a return to Sunderland in 2022 after Lee Johnson's dismissal but rejected the chance to make a comeback.
The former Ireland international teased a potential managerial return when his Instagram post with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was captioned with: "DM us if you’re looking to hire a manager."
However, Keane has previously all but shut down the chance to get back on the touchline and looks set to remain as a pundit instead.
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Speaking on the subject of a return on the Stick to Football podcast in February, he said: "We were talking about going back into management, I think the longer you're out of it, the more you think...
"The last few chats we've had about going back to it, even before Frank [Lampard on his struggles at Chelsea and Everton] came in, you do ask yourself and I'm swaying now towards not going back into it. I just think it's not worth the hassle and people constantly disrespect you."