Jason McAteer predicts Roy Keane might not like how he’s portrayed in upcoming Saipan movie

Saipan will be a big screen release in 2025, with Steve Coogan cast as Mick McCarthy and Éanna Hardwicke as Roy Keane

Steve Coogan has been cast as Republic of Ireland manager McCarthy, with Éanna Hardwicke taking on the Keane role for Saipan, which is due to be released in 2025.

McAteer was present for the infamous dressing room fall-out between Keane and manager McCarthy, with the Ireland captain leaving the squad and missing the World Cup.

When asked who he wanted to play his minor role in the drama on the big screen, former Liverpool midfielder McAteer cheekily suggested a Hollywood heart throb could step into his shoes.

“I got a text of a mate who was an actor in Ireland and he texted me out of the blue and asked me if the image he sent me looked like someone who could play me in a movie,” said McAteer. “Obviously it was Brad Pitt! I’m only joking.

“He said they’re making a film about Saipan and I was like ‘shut up’. I asked was it a documentary and he went ‘no, it’s a big movie’. Steve Coogan is playing Mick McCarthy.

“It’s going to be a blockbuster and I don’t think Roy is going to come out of this too well, to be honest.”

He also reflected on the much-discussed bust-up, which started long before the duo’s angry exchange in the Ireland dressing room.

“There was always tension between Roy and Mick,” reflected McAteer. “It went back from when they played together.

“When Mick was captain and Roy was a young kid, they clashed a number of times.

“Then Mick got the manager’s job and Roy became one of the best midfielders in the world, so it was always a difficult relationship.

“We were struggling with jet lag and tiredness and there were a few things that needed ironing out.

“Unfortunately, it escalated to the point where, in a team meeting, Mick and Roy decided to air their views of each other, which didn’t go down very well.

“It just got to the point where it was a slagging match in the dressing room.

Then Republic of Ireland captain Roy Keane chats to his manager Mick McCarthy during squad training in 2002 (Pic: David Maher / SPORTSFILE)

“I’d been involved in fights in dressing rooms. I’d seen managers lose their temper. I’d seen players throw punches, but I’d never been involved in an argument which escalated to such a point where one of them was gonna snap – and they did. And it was Roy. He decided to go home.

“What followed was just ridiculous. The country was split in half, it got political, players were dragged into it. We weren’t allowed out of the hotel, we weren’t allowed out to talk to the press.

“It soured the situation, to be honest. I’d been involved in World Cup ’94, which was the best six weeks of my life.

“The World Cup is amazing and we’d earned the right to be there again. It was there to be enjoyed and unfortunately, this overshadowed everything.”

Corkonian BAFTA nominee Hardwicke (Lakelands, The Sixth Commandment) and two-time Academy Award nominee Coogan (Philomena, The Reckoning) spent the summer working on the film, with production taking place in Louth, Belfast, and Dublin.

_{Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.}