Rio Ferdinand reveals the harsh manner Sir Alex Ferguson axed Roy Keane following his rant about young players

RIO FERDINAND revealed the BRUTAL way Sir Alex Ferguson axed Roy Keane.

The pair had an infamous falling out at Old Trafford following the Irishman’s rant about young players not performing in 2005.

During a never-aired MUTV interview, Keane is alleged to have laid into several players individually.

It put him on the warpath with Ferguson though, who had a heated exchange with Keane, whose contract was running down anyway.

The midfield commander was then told he had to leave United and Ferguson was left to inform the players of his departure.

Ferdinand recalled: “The club didn’t want [it] to go out, the manager thought it was disrespectful to the team.

“The next day, he told the players that Roy Keane will never come back to Man Utd again.”

Keane claims in his book, The Second Half, that he also fell out with Carlos Queiroz, Ferguson’s trusted lieutenant at the time.

He played 326 games for United after signing from Nottingham Forest in 1993, but his move to Celtic did not work as he’d planned as his ongoing hip injuries caught up with him.

Ferdinand continued: “He was captain of Man Utd. The best player United had for a long period of time.

“That was a message to the next generation: don’t ever think you’re bigger than this club.

“Because you’re not, you will go. I just told the captain he is never coming back again.

“What are you going to do now?”

Wayne Rooney and Mikael Silvestre have also shared their explosive versions of the Fergie-Keane bust-up.