Keane by Roy

«Gary Neville  had come to see me just after the warm-up; it was an evening kick-off. We'd just come back into the dressing room. Gary told me that some of the Arsenal players had said something to him in the tunnel, that they weren't going to take any nonsense - they'd be waiting for him.
(...)
But I didn't pay much attention to what Gary said.
'Whatever, Gary.'
I was getting into the zone myself. I was concentrating on my job, getting ready to go out on to the pitch. I wasn't one for shouting and roaring in the dressing room. I'd be geeing myself up, in a calm way. The last thing I wanted was Gary in my earhole, going, 'They've been shouting at me in the tunnel.'
My attitude was, 'Fuckin' deal with it. You're not eleven.'
But he'd planted a seed in my head, warning me.
I was always one of the first out to the tunnel. As captain, I'd be leading the team out. The Highbury tunnel was a strange one, like a little alleyway. Very tight. It was hard to avoid contact with people, even if you were trying to. There was always a lot of tension there. And night matches always created more tension anyway.
I'd forgotten my captain's armband - simple as that. So I turned to go back to the dressing room.
'Go down, lads, I'll be with you in a minute; I forgot my armband.'
And I went back, past our own players. Albert, the kit man, had the armband and was putting it on me.
'All the best, Roy.'
As I walked to the front I heard something going on at the top of the tunnel. All I could see was a few fingers, pointing at Gary.
I lost it.
Five seconds earlier, I'd been perfectly calm, in the zone, ready for the match. But, because of what Gary had said to me, I just went, 'The fuckers - they are waiting for him.'
I'd thought they might have booted him out in the pitch. But in the tunnel? I just thought, 'The fuckers.' They are trying to bully him. They were a big team and, in the tunnel, they were even bigger.
So I said to myself, 'All right. Let's go.'
I went down there. I'd lost it, but I wasn't zoning out; I wasn't forgetting about the game.
I said, 'We'll see you out there.'
I just felt they were bullying Gary. I don't think it was intimidation; it was bullying. There's a difference. If Patrick Vieira had come up to me and said, 'I'm going to have you', that would have been intimidation. It would have been a clash between equal personalities. But Gary was quiet - I think they were going for one of the weaker players of the team. (...) In football, intimidation is legitimate but bullying isn't. I never went looking for a full-back who'd never done anything to me. I'd look for people who were in my position or were physically important for their team. I'd always thought 'They can give it back to me.' I never went for a tricky winger or a small full-back.
'I'll see you out there.'
I meant it. I love the game of football. We'd sort it out on the pitch - no hiding places.»