TIM HOWARD reveals the hidden genius of Roy Keane at Manchester United, what it’s really like working with the captain and pundit everyone fears… and why he turned down a VERY rare invite to dinner with him and his wife

I was in my first or second year at Manchester United when Roy Keane heard that my family had returned to the United States for a week. He invited me to dinner with his wife Theresa and the children.

I was a young, foreign player, but he knew everything that was going on within the club. He knew my family had gone home. He knew I was on my own. No one sees that side of Roy; he is a true gentleman in many ways.

I didn’t go in the end, I was too scared! I remember thinking, I’m so terrified of sitting across from Roy in his own house and eating. He was Manchester United at the time, but in person he was much more terrifying. But the sentiment was there.

Not a moment went by that Roy did not feel he contributed to a winning mentality: being on time, how you look in a suit or tracksuit. Everything mattered. He was a master winner.

The special thing I learned from Roy is that leaders sometimes slip: they say one thing and then do another. Roy was never caught slipping.

It was incredible, impeccable leadership – even if sometimes I didn’t love it because I was a young player and I was terrified of him. But if you hold people to a higher standard – and you manage to maintain it – that is quite special.

If there was one moment to sum him up, it was at Highbury in 2005. Arsenal against Manchester United, the night Roy confronted Patrick Vieira in the tunnel.

What can I tell you from the locker room? None of that was an act. After the warm-up there had been a meeting between Gary Neville and Patrick. And something was brewing. It was talked about in the locker room. But none of that came from Roy.

So many people get caught up in the locker room hooting and hollering, “I’m going to do this and that.” Roy never said boo. He just waited, walked out and said exactly what he needed to say. That was it. That was Roy: he didn’t do anything for the cameras or the show. He just did it.

Later in my career we lived in the same village: I was at Everton, Roy was Ireland coach. He came to see some of our Irish players and we’d have a cup of tea and just chat.

Roy is an incredibly well-read, intelligent and thoughtful man. But he is also not someone who is going to share that with everyone. Not everyone gets that side of Roy Keane. You have to earn that side of him.

What I learned at a young age was that his expectations were incredibly high. But if you pushed yourself to that level, you could understand him better. If you didn’t take shortcuts, he respected you.

Some people wonder if this leadership style could work in today’s game. I believe so. Why? Because winners win.

He would do well alongside the best players of this era because they want to be great too. He would still take the level of top teams to the next level.

I was nervous about everything when I first arrived at Manchester United in 2003. But when I meet someone, Roy is a gentleman: he looks you in the eye, shakes your hand and speaks very clearly.

Only when you put on your boots and start training do you realize: this is a different animal. Roy created such an impossible standard; he set it for himself and that set the bar high for the players around him.

He thought there was a right way to do things – and there was. He was obsessed with being the best.

Simply put, Roy wanted to make sure there was no one around Carrington or Old Trafford just standing there on the doorstep. He hated that. He wanted everyone who had a job to do well. The physios, the catering staff, the travel staff: it didn’t matter. If you were employed by the club and had a job to prepare the players, Roy had an opinion about that and he was right.

He had seen how people took advantage of coming to Manchester United by simply resting on their laurels. So he never allowed anyone to do that.

He was also incredibly smart. Roy is very calculated in what he says, how he says it, the timing of it, the tone of it. I mean that in the most respectful way: he understood what the team needed at all times.

Take Manchester United vs. Liverpool, the biggest game on the calendar. If he thought the team needed to see him completely emotionless, sitting in his locker with his laces tied, waiting for the bell, he did it.

If he felt like he had to raid the locker room and make sure people knew their job and be a little louder, he did that. Sometimes he would make a joke and a wry smile when you wouldn’t expect it.

There was never one way and he always changed it at the most important moments. Good leaders understand when a game feels different and you need to act differently.

Those big games fueled Roy’s character and his willingness to take charge. That’s when true leaders are measured: they don’t blink, they don’t shy away. And he never did that. Never.

HALL OF FAME MAKES MY CAREER GO, BUT WILL NEVER DIE

The National Soccer Hall of Fame put on a great weekend for my Texas induction on Saturday – there was a welcome dinner, a concert and then the ceremony.

Many of my World Cup memories came flooding back and old friends reached out to congratulate me, including Sunil Gulati, a good friend and former president of US Soccer. He couldn’t be there, but it was special that he acknowledged it.

The one thing I wanted to get right in my speech was to make sure I paid tribute to all the people who helped me along the journey. And I think I did that.

As far as my performance in football goes, it ranks as close to the top as it’s possible to get. It felt like a great ending to my career. It marked the end.

But the irony of the Hall of Fame is that you are essentially immortalized forever. It keeps your memory and your career alive. That was the most revealing part for me. My career is over, but now stands alone forever. That’s quite special.