There's a roguish smile on Roy Keane's face as he discusses Chelsea, especially when he talks about why he feels it tough to warm to Roman Abramovich's team.
Keane, along with Thierry Henry and Kenny Dalglish, recently recorded a 90-minute discussion to celebrate 25 years of the Premier League.
The Ireland assistant manager said when Abramovich first took over Chelsea in 2003, it was not a distraction from players. Rather, it was viewed as being another reality of modern football with which they had to deal.
Though Keane says that Chelsea were a 'decent team' before the arrival of Abramovich - unlike West Brom - he believes it's the millions they spent which has maintained that status.
From a player's point of view, you don't get distracted by that. You knew obviously that there was going to be money spent.
They were a decent team anyway. It's not as if they've gone to West Brom; they've gone to Chelsea which is a decent team. They just needed fine tuning and Mourinho was the man for that.
The owner, clearly, was going to throw money at it. Listen, they've thrown hundreds of millions at it and will probably continue to do so and that's what makes them a decent team.
Still, unlike Liverpool and Arsenal - both of whom he respects - Keane finds it tough to praise Chelsea.
I remember growing up watching Liverpool in the 80s - brilliant. We've respect for Arsenal.
I've always found it hard to kind of like Chelsea even though I'm still reluctant... the way they've done it. Whatever way they've done it, I find it kind of hard to praise them too much but that's just a personal thing.
