Keane blasts Fernandes and Maguire for podcast appearances as United slide to fifth straight winless game

Roy Keane has accused Bruno Fernandes and Harry Maguire of prioritising podcast appearances over their responsibilities as Manchester United leaders, following a 2-0 Champions League defeat to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday that left the club winless in five consecutive games across all competitions.

Speaking on Stick to Football, the former United captain was scathing about both players’ media activity. Maguire appeared on The Rest is Football during the summer, while Fernandes sat down with Steven Bartlett on Diary of a CEO — where he took a thinly veiled swipe at Keane himself. Keane said he had no issue with Fernandes responding to criticism, but argued the mindset it revealed was the real problem.

“Bruno, Maguire… they’re probably busy doing podcasts, I can’t imagine them pulling him,” Keane said, referring to Lisandro Martinez, whose public outburst after the Atletico defeat — in which he pointed the finger at the club’s summer recruitment — reportedly triggered a confrontation with a teammate on the flight back to Manchester.

“This reflects where Manchester United are and where this dressing room is,” Keane continued. “Maguire gets left out of the England squad — he’s all upset with that. Instead of rolling his sleeves up during the summer, he goes to New York and does a podcast for a few weeks. That’s his mindset.”

Keane drew a direct line between the podcast culture and the absence of dressing-room discipline, recalling how players in his era would be held accountable internally for any public misstep. “Back in our day it was more magazines than podcasts, but if a player went off and said something, even silly, he’d come in the dressing room and lads would say: ‘What are you talking about?’ You’d put him in his place — not a big bust-up.”

He was equally pointed about the broader context, noting that United finished 15th two seasons ago and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Grimsby. “These players have done nothing for the last few years at Man United, and they’re coming up with all these comments,” he said. “Man United is a circus. If you can, try and do your talking on the pitch.”

United currently sit 13th in the Premier League table, with the pressure on Ruben Amorim’s squad intensifying ahead of their next league fixture.