Keane dressed as Paw Patrol? Do me a favour...

It is fair to say those are three words that many Manchester United fans would use to describe the character of our iconic club captain Roy Keane.

But is that now an outdated assessment?

The Irishman shocked football supporters earlier this year when he surprisingly entered the world of social media, with an official Instagram account that has now racked up 1.5million followers.

While his early work hinted at the hard-man character that is often defined by the public – his second post showed him fighting off two opponents who were strangling him by the throat! – Keane has since highlighted a much softer side to his personality and fans appear to be lapping up.

But should we be surprised by this apparent revelation? It is now 15 years since Keane retired from a playing career that forged his fearsome reputation and our former no.16 is close to turning 50, surrounded by grandchildren who appear to idolise him as much as United fans.

Roy has often admitted the media’s version of his character is exaggerated and, while he clearly enjoys that from time to time, his recent work on Sky Sports has proved he is human after all. A recent road trip with Micah Richards this summer revealed more about the man than we previously knew: he loves a TGI Friday, worships Bob Dylan and cites ‘There Will Be Blood’ as his favourite film.

The very few people who claim to know Roy well suggest the Cork man is much mellower and more personable than some envisage, which many of his former team-mates back up. Just don’t be brave enough to call him Keaney, because that nickname is reserved exclusively for those he shared the pitch with. 

Ultimately, Keane is a family man: during his playing career that centred around his colleagues and he would protect them at all costs, as Patrick Vieira famously discovered in the Highbury tunnel. 

As his Instagram account continues to show us, his life now revolves around his home life and those closest to him. Want proof? Take a look at the gallery of images below…