Alfie ble intervjuet mens han var i Leeds rett før jul:
http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/sport/leeds-united/latest-whites-news/conflict-with-keane-still-rankles-with-ex-leeds-united-and-forest-star-haaland-interview-1-5255206
Conflict with Keane still rankles with ex-Leeds United and Forest star Haaland INTERVIEWBy Phil Hay
Published on Wednesday 26 December 2012 10:43
It was never Alfie Haaland’s desire to be closely associated with Roy Keane, or not in the way that he is. Interviews with Keane can cross a thousand and one subjects; Haaland is accustomed to talking about one.
When he came to Leeds earlier this month on a trip organised by the Leeds United Supporters Club of Scandinavia, he was made available to the local media. Prior to speaking to him, it was suggested that Haaland might appreciate questions which avoided the elephant in the room. “People ask about Keane a lot,†says one of his chaperones.
In fact, he speaks eloquently and openly when Keane’s name comes up. He has either given the Irishman considerable thought or been asked about him so many times that his answers flow easily. Has Haaland forgotten (evidently not) and can he ever forgive the reprisal by Keane which stalks him 11 years later?
“Not what he wrote about me in his book,†Haaland says. “The tackle, that’s one thing. He wanted revenge and he took his revenge on the field. Maybe I can say that’s okay. But to write about it in the way he did – no, I don’t forget that.â€
In saying so, Haaland still gives the impression that he cares far less about this than Keane. A feud which began innocuously in 1997 mattered so much to Keane that he waited three-and-a-half years to take retribution and later incurred sanctions from the Football Association by confessing in his autobiography that his vicious foul on Haaland was deliberate and pre-meditated.
“What goes around comes around,†Keane wrote. “He got his just rewards. He f***** me over and my attitude is an eye for an eye.â€
Berate
The source of their conflict is old news – the tackle by Keane on Haaland during a game between Leeds and Manchester United in which Keane seriously injured a cruciate knee ligament. Convinced that Keane was feigning injury, Haaland and David Wetherall took turns to berate him as he lay on the ground 30 yards in front of the Kop.
Wetherall, the former Leeds centre-back, has been reticent about the incident, telling the YEP many years ago that “things went on that day which I’m not especially proud of.†Haaland for his part believed Keane was trying to foul him when his leg twisted awkwardly and his knee gave way.
Manchester United’s captain recovered from that injury and recovered well. The injury he inflicted on Haaland in 2001 was more long-lasting. By then a member of Manchester City’s squad, Haaland barely played again and retired in 2003 aged 31. These days his knee allows him to play in Norway’s fourth division. “Just matches though,†he says. “I can’t train much.â€
He and Keane have not spoken since the latter’s autobiography was published with incendiary results. Haaland sees no reason for that to change. “I don’t expect us to speak,†he says. “Not really. I probably wouldn’t be able to understand his accent and he might not understand mine.
“But I’m not bitter about it and I don’t think about it, except when I get asked – which a lot of people do. As I said, what he wrote in his book was the worst thing. That can’t be good for football. It doesn’t set the right example to say that you were planning revenge, that you’d waited for the chance to do that.
“There are bad tackles in a lot of games and a few are probably deliberate. You keep that quiet. It’s different when you go public with it. Kids growing up read about it and I don’t think that’s right. Will he regret that? Knowing his personality, I don’t think he will. Or maybe he will in time, when he’s 60 or 70.
“For me, I try to be positive about the tackle. You can ask what might have been if it hadn’t happened – how much longer my career might have gone on – but I had 10 great years in English football. That’s what I think.â€
Haaland must wonder how he ever came to be defined by one incident and one man. An objective view of his career would be to define him as one of the Premier League’s better Norwegian imports, among a cast of several. He was part of a group of four who travelled to Leeds for the club’s 2-0 win over Ipswich Town on December 15, joined by Gunnar Halle, Eirik Bakke and Tore Andre Flo.
There is little doubt that his cult status in Leeds was raised by his reputation as one Keane’s chief adversaries but there were many who appreciated his style and his attitude in three years at Elland Road. Haaland calls it his “best spell in Englandâ€, lodged in between three seasons with Nottingham Forest and three with Manchester City.
He was part of the squad at Elland Road in the period before Leeds lost their financial marbles. Sold in 2000 for £2.5million – almost £1million more than United paid for him – his exit at the behest of David O’Leary preceded the Champions League year and the chaos which followed. Haaland said goodbye with a record of 92 appearances and eight goals.
“Those were good times,†he says. “We finished fifth, fourth and third – good progress for that squad.
“There was that great run in the UEFA Cup in my last season and I look back with good memories. I think of good times. It all went sour with O’Leary in the end but that was probably my best spell in England.
“The shame for that squad was that it never won any trophies because we had a couple of chances – the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup and then the Champions League after I left. There were a lot of good players here back then.
“Maybe it would have helped if everything had moved a bit slower or if they club had built things up over a longer period of time.
“The players would have been a bit older and a bit more experienced, a gradual process as you say over here. Maybe it was too much too soon.
“The club had the money and they wanted to spend everything but you have to think that they might have stayed where they were for longer if they’d had a long-term plan. I think they wanted success too quick and when it didn’t come, we know what happened.â€
The legacy of United’s reckless investment around the turn of the century is the Championship football which Haaland takes in on the occasions when he finds time to attend Elland Road.
He came to England this month with his partner and his daughter and watched United’s win over Ipswich Town from the padded seats of Elland Road’s West Stand. On his previous visit in 2010, he stood on the Kop for a 3-1 victory against Crystal Palace having received tickets from uber-fan and local author Gary Edwards.
“That was a funny day,†Haaland says. “Gary, the ‘Paint It White’ guy, got us tickets and I was in the home end, standing and singing with everything else. It was great – a chance to see things from the other side.
“A lot of people recognised me but it wasn’t like I was signing a million autographs. They were more interested in the match I think. That’s how I remember Leeds – a place where the football matters. I prefer to focus on the football too. Whatever else people talk about, English football was good to me.â€
