RUUD VAN NISTELROOY was a lethal finisher and scored a whopping 150 goals for Manchester United.
But the Dutch striker drove Roy Keane mad and got scolded by the captain for four months.
And it was so bad that it forced him to change his look to appease the fiery Irishman.
Van Nistelrooy joined the Red Devils from PSV in 2001 – despite initially failing a medical – and spent five successful seasons at Old Trafford, averaging 0.68 goals per game and winning the Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup.
Speaking about a row with Neville, Van Nistelrooy explained how he had an inflamed toe and couldn’t run properly – but there was no chance of telling the legendary boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
And the conversation quickly moved on to trying to tell Keane about an injury – and the furious response to be expected – before Van Nistelrooy recalled how his appearance angered the United skipper.
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The 46-year-old PSV manager told The Overlap: “Roy with my hairband, do you remember that?
“He killed me for four months.
“Remember when I came I had longer hair with the hairband.
“I put it on for training. I went into the changing room in front of the mirror and put the hairband on.
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“He was like, ‘F***ing hell,’ and I had enough of it and I cut my hair.
“I thought after one month, ‘I’m not going to cut my hair for this guy.’
“But then every day for two months and then three months I just gave in and took my hairband off.”
Van Nistelrooy left United in 2006 under a cloud and moved to Real Madrid.
He knew his time was up when he was an unused sub in the 4-0 League Cup final win over Wigan and then Ferguson dumped him from the squad on the final day of the season.
‘I SNAPPED AT SIR ALEX’
Van Nistelrooy added: “I snapped at Sir Alex when I wasn’t coming on. I can’t remember what I said.
“The last game of the season, Charlton at home. We needed to win to get into the Champions League and he pulled me aside at the Lowry and told me I wasn’t in the squad.
“He told me to bring my car to Old Trafford and I knew that was the end, I was being moved on. I came to pre-season but I knew.
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“I texted him a year later and asked to call him, after I had reflected.
“I apologised for the League Cup final comment and he accepted it directly. We kept in touch, the apology was worth it with the relationship still intact.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
