The disagreement between McCarthy and Keane caused huge controversy in Irish society over who was to blame, and despite the best efforts of former Taoiseach (Irish PM) Bertie Ahern, the duo could not resolve their differences before the tournament started, leading Keane to miss the World Cup.
“I always think it was more subtle and grey than sometimes it gets portrayed,” Hardwicke told BBC Sport.
“Sometimes it gets simplified as the clash between the person who wanted to win at all costs – Roy – and the person who had more of a ‘we’re happy to be here’ approach – Mick.
“I think it is way more complex than that. Roy’s commitment to excellence and absolute rigour is inspiring – he is such a symbol of the way the professionalism in football changed in the 1990s and 2000s, moving away from the pub culture that had existed.
“But Mick had a fantastic playing career too, as probably the most successful Ireland captain, and then was maybe behind Jack Charlton as the second-most successful Ireland manager.
“So, he knew how to win and he knew how to get the best out of a team. That is a really important thing to distinguish because they both wanted to win – they just had different ways of going about it.
“In a way, there is a Greek tragedy element to the situation because they are both on these different tracks, which both lead to one place. So it was always bound to end up where it did.
“I came out of the screening in Cork [where he and Keane were both born] and it was so satisfying to hear very different reactions, all very close to the skin. Some people were saying they were completely with Roy in this moment, while others were totally on Mick’s side.
“It makes this more than just a sports story. We all maybe identify with one of them more than the other, depending on who you are as a person.”
Chris Sutton and Éanna Hardwicke were speaking to BBC Sport’s Chris Bevan.
The AI predictions were generated using Microsoft Copilot Chat – we simply asked the tool to ‘predict this weekend’s Premier League scores.
