Jason McAteer: Roy Keane-Mick McCarthy film ‘will be blockbuster’

“It’s gonna be a blockbuster! I don’t think Roy’s gonna come out too well in this film to be honest.”

Jason McAteer is looking forward to seeing Saipan at the cinema. After all, the former Liverpool midfielder is set to be portrayed in it.

However, the tale of the infamous bust-up between Roy Keane and Mick McCarthy at the 2002 World Cup is not a great memory for him.

Steve Coogan has been cast as Republic of Ireland manager McCarthy, with Éanna Hardwicke taking on the Keane role as they depict the fallout, which took place on the small Japanese island of Saipan and resulted in the captain leaving the camp.

McAteer, 53, first got wind of the project via a text from an actor friend in Ireland.

“It was a picture of this kid and he asked ‘do you think this guy can play you in a movie?” he told the BBC podcast, Sacked in the Morning. “Obviously it was Brad Pitt – I’m 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’.”

Manchester United midfielder Keane had angered the FA of Ireland by giving a newspaper interview in which he criticised training facilities, including a “rock hard” pitch and missing equipment.

McCarthy’s decision to send Keane home triggered a media frenzy and divided supporters.

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

“When Mick was (Republic of Ireland) 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.”