Featured Image Credit: Getty & The Overlap
Topics: James Maddison, Roy Keane, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United
Josh Lawless
Topics: James Maddison, Roy Keane, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United
James Maddison fired a fresh dig at Roy Keane after scoring the winner for Spurs on his return to action against Manchester United.
Maddison suffered a calf strain in a Europa League win over Hoffenheim on 23 January and has been one of many players missing from Ange Postecoglou's squad.
He was back fit and firing on Sunday though, popping up with the only goal of the game 13 minutes as Spurs climbed to 12th in the Premier League table.
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After tapping home from close range after Andre Onana palmed Lucas Bervall's shot into his path, Maddison performed his usual darts celebration but then added a shush gesture.
It came days after former United captain issued a brutal put-down to the former Leicester City man, dismissing his ability to make a difference and questioning his impact when it matters.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Keane said: "We saw Maddison at Tamworth, he was taken off. Tamworth are non-league.
"People say Maddison’s the man. When is he going to step up to the plate? He got relegated with Leicester and he’ll get relegated with Spurs.
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"Maddison isn’t bad when he’s not at the darts, but let me tell you, if you think he’s going to come back and get Spurs into the top six, you’re in cuckoo land.
"He’s good, he’s a talented player. But if you’re a player in the Spurs dressing room and Maddison’s back in the squad, you wouldn’t be looking and going 'oh Jesus – he’s back today. We’re going to be fine'."
In his post-match interview with Sky Sports, Maddison was asked about whether the celebration was directed at anyone in particular.
He told Patrick Davison that there was "a little bit of outside noise this week" and said he hopes "there's a certain few that enjoyed me being the match-winner today!".
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Though Maddison did not name Keane, he then confirmed exactly who he was aiming his celebration at with a TikTok video which quickly went viral.
The 28-year-old posted the clip of Keane laying into him, before Ian Wright told Maddison to "you've got to silence this".
Maddison did just that and the video, captioned 'COYS', cut to his goal and celebration to the camera, racking up 100,000 likes and more than 800,000 views.
In a fascinating Sky interview, Maddison spoke about being instructed by Postecoglou to ignore all the media talk but admitted it is easier said than done - particularly when someone like Keane is discussing his performances.
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"It's constantly in your face," Maddison stated.
"You can use it but I think gaffer prefers when you're just in our own little bubble and listening to him.
"Sometimes it's difficult, it's constantly in your face these days - social media and WhatsApp with people sending you stuff and you do see it - especially when it's a big high-profile name."
Spurs are back in action on Saturday when they travel to play Ipswich Town at Portman Road.