Feuds With Teammates and Run-Ins With Sir Alex: Gary Pallister Discusses the Man United Dressing Room

Feuds With Teammates and Run-Ins With Sir Alex: Gary Pallister Discusses the Man United Dressing Room

The Manchester United dressing room has always been full of characters. Over the years, some of football's most famous footballing personalities have passed through the doors at Old Trafford, including the likes of Eric Cantona, Roy Keane, Cristiano Ronaldo and Patrice Evra.

A stalwart of the Red Devils' backline for almost a decade across the 80s and 90s, Gary Pallister was in and amongst the Man United dressing room at what was arguably the peak of the club's glory days, sharing the dressing room with some of the greatest players of his time.

However, naturally, it was not all harmonious behind the scenes, and Pallister himself got on the wrong side of two individuals that no football fan would ever want to get on the wrong side of. These individuals were football’s original hardman, Roy Keane, and arguably the greatest manager ever, Sir Alex Ferguson.

It is a well-known fact that once upon a time, Pallister and Keane went a whole season without talking to each other. For rivals on opposing sides of the field, this wouldn’t be all that unusual, but for teammates playing in the same hugely successful side, it was almost unheard of.

Speaking of the incident, Pallister said, “(laughing) I won’t go into the fine details, but we had a little bit of a fallout. We were over in Kuala Lumpur or Singapore - I can’t remember where it was now - on a pre-season tour, and I think we both had a good drink, and we both had a bit of a fallout over probably nothing.”

This wouldn’t surprise many - even in the present day, when working as a pundit on Sky Sports or wherever it may be, Keane is known for his strong views and unwillingness to back down, and it isn’t exactly a shock to hear he was exactly the same in his playing days. However, Pallister’s equally hard-headed approach saw the rift between the two grow throughout the season.

“It was kind of pathetic, I guess; it was kind of a stubbornness between the two of us that we wouldn’t be the first to talk and put it to bed, so we kind of just blanked each other for the whole of the season. Of course, we’d still shake hands before the game, and it wasn’t a hatred, because we had been good mates; we used to go on nights out together."

Classic football culture - two of football’s toughest men at the time not wanting to be the first to say sorry! It makes sense in hindsight - every player carries a lot of self-pride and no shortage of ego - and neither wanted to damage their own view of themselves with an apology. Fortunately though, the two were able to put their “feud” to bed when Pallister was heading to Middlesbrough.

“It was funny, because the day I was leaving United and was picking up all my stuff, he was walking out of the dressing rooms, I was walking into the dressing rooms, we met in the corridor, and we both just started laughing. We shook hands and gave each other a hug, and he wished me all the best, and that was the end of the ‘feud’!”

All’s well that ends well, eh? And Pallister confirmed that they are still mates to this day, saying, “I get on great with Keaney, he’s a top bloke.”

However, the little head-to-head mind games with Keane weren’t the only disagreement Pallister found himself party to.

“I had a massive fallout with him in my second season and nearly came to blows with him at halftime during a game. He said something to me when I came into the dressing room, and I just blew up - I got up and was like, ‘Who the hell are you talking to?’ and we had to get separated."

We’ve all heard of the infamous Alex Ferguson hairdryer treatments - kicking boots across a room, non-stop berating his team for the entire 15-minute break - the Scotsman was not one to keep his opinions to himself.

“He told me to get my kit off, and said I wasn’t going out for the second half. But as I was getting changed and getting ready to go into the showers, he turned and asked me where the hell I thought I was going, and I said, ‘I’m getting showered; thats where I’m going.’ He said, ‘No, you’re not. Get your kit back on and get on the pitch.’ I was just like, ‘Kiss my arse!’”

It is one thing to defend yourself against your manager - it is an entirely different ballgame when you turn to one of the most ruthless managers in history and tell him to smooch your big juicy behind!

“Bryan Robson and Brian McClair came in and said, ‘listen, this isn’t about you and the manager, this is about the team - you need to get your kit back on and get out there.’ When you’ve got the captain of England and Manchester United in Bryan Robson, telling you to get your kit back on, you listen!”

Pallister said himself that he expected to either be sacked or transfer-listed after the ding-dong with his coach, but things couldn’t have gone more differently.

“I went back in the next day, and I got the call to go and see the manager in his office, and I was still fuming, to be quite honest with you. I walked in, sat down opposite him, and was just waiting to start having a go, really. But he (Sir Alex) said, ‘I just want to apologise for what I said.’ That was the last thing I expected him to say, but play to him; he realised he’d gone too far really. He put his hand out, asking if we were OK, I shook his hand and went, ‘Yeah, no problem.’”

Pallister’s stories not only give you an insight into dressing room dynamics, but also into the mindsets of both ex-players and ex-coaches. It really was life or death to them, and they would do anything to either maintain their self-respect or to motivate their cohorts, even if it means crossing a few boundaries in order to do so.