Haaland-Keane feud lingers on: Erling's dad 'really p***ed off' with Roy's jibes

Alf-Inge Haaland is 'p***** off' with Roy Keane's comments comparing his son Erling to a League Two player as their family feud continues to rumble on.

The Manchester United legend made the comparison after the Norwegian's anonymous performance during Man City's goalless draw with Arsenal back in March.

Keane again hit out at the Norwegian striker over the weekend, calling him a 'spoilt brat' for his angry reaction to being substituted after scoring four goals against Wolves.

Though the comments against Erling have only come in the last few months, Keane's bad blood with his father Alf-Inge stems back around 27 years.

Mail Sport football editor Ian Ladyman has said on It's All Kicking Off that their rivalry from the 1990s '100 per cent' still lingers on until this day.

Ladyman described Keane's comments as strong and added: 'What I do know here is that obviously Keane previously, a few weeks ago, described Erling Haaland, as having the hold up play and the link up play of a League Two player.

'What I do know is that comment, although Erling himself has kind of dismissed it and said that he doesn't listen to anything that man says. What I do know is that Alfie was really, really p***** off with that comment. Really p***** off with that comment.

'So that the Haaland and Keane feud which goes back 20 years to clashes that Roy and Alfie had on the field, lingers. It 100% lingers on and it looks as though that it was an argument between two and now it's an argument between three because Erling's been dragged into it as well.'

The first major flashpoint in the rivalry came in September 1997, when Alf-Inge - then playing for Leeds - stood over Keane and accused him of feigning injury, when in fact, he had ruptured his cruciate ligament which would keep him out for the remainder of the season.

Their rivalry came to a head during a Manchester derby 2001 when Keane raked his studs into Haaland's leg with brute force.

Haaland's knee was never the same again, and he made just four substitute appearances the following season before retiring.

Keane, now 51, was initially slapped with a standard three-match ban and £5,000 ban, but the incident was dredged back the following year after the release of his autobiography.

He wrote: 'I'd waited long enough. 'I f***ing hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***.

The comments in his book got him a further £150,000 fine and five-match ban for suggesting it was intentional.

Ladyman's It's All Kicking Off co-host Sutton argued that Erling's dad shouldn't care about what he thought was a 'throwaway comment'.

He said: 'Why would he be angry about comments about his son?

'Erling Haaland's football does the talking, doesn't it? I mean, a throwaway comment from somebody who he had a riff with 20 years ago, I wouldn't be getting angry about that.

'You know, it's loaded from Roy Keane, loaded for a reason, and it's had the, maybe the desired effect. I don't, you know, I don't, why would you get rattled?

Sutton also backed Keane's comments as he said: 'What Roy said I don't think anybody could really argue with it. A manager substitutes a player. A player goes in a bit of a huff. You could describe that as behaving like a spoiled brat, couldn't you? I mean, who's going to take great offence to that?

Keane's recent war of words with Alf-Inge's son, Erling, started after Man City's goalless draw with Arsenal in March.

He told Sky Sports: 'In front of goal he's the best in the world, but his general play for such a player - it is so poor. Not just today. He has to improve that.

'He's almost like a League Two player - that's the way I look at him. His general play has to improve. It will do over the next few years. [He's a] brilliant striker but he has to improve his overall game.'

Keane later softened his comments, only somewhat, when he compared Haaland to a 'Championship striker' after he netted against Nottingham Forest.

Despite his dad's anger over the comments, Erling gave a nonchalant response when asked about Keane, stating: 'I don't really care that much about that man, so that's all right.'

The Norwegian bagged four goals at the weekend in their 4-1 victory over Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.

A day later, Keane slammed Haaland for his reaction to being substituted in the same game, as he delivered a menacing stare to Sky Sports presenter David Jones.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Keane has reignited a war of words between himself and Haaland as he said: 'We saw Haaland yesterday being brought off, not too happy, [he was] behaving like a spoiled brat.

'I think when you have the spat as well with the manager and obviously your Star Man, it doesn't help that results aren't going your way. But because they win the game, he scores goals, it's almost forgotten about.'

Jones subsequently asked Keane: 'Spoiled brat? That's alright if you score four goals isn't it?'

But Keane was not enthused by the presenter's comments, responding flatly: 'No, no. No it's not.'