Roy Keane has taken aim at John McGinn, saying he can look like a "pub player" on his bad days. Gabby Agbonlahor wasted no time pushing back, arguing that Aston Villa's captain is far more reliable than that label suggests.

Why Agbonlahor thinks Keane is wrong

Agbonlahor's defence was blunt. "John McGinn, every game he's at it. He's the most reliable player game after game. So Roy Keane, be quiet mate," he said on talkSPORT. That was not just a former teammate sticking up for one of his own, either. It was an argument built around McGinn's consistency, and recent form gives it weight.

McGinn joined Aston Villa from Hibs for £2.75m in 2018, and he captained the club to Europa League glory last month. The recent ratings are not bad either. He posted a 7.7 against Liverpool, a 7.3 in the 3-0 win at SC Freiburg and an 8.7 in the 4-0 Europa League win over Nottingham Forest. Across his last eight recorded matches, he played 687 minutes.

That does not make Keane's criticism worthless, because the comment came from watching McGinn long enough to form an opinion. But Agbonlahor has the stronger case here. A player logging those ratings, those minutes and that kind of captaincy role is not easily dismissed as a hit-or-miss presence.

The row also turned personal

Agbonlahor did not stop at defending McGinn. He also used a story about Keane's coaching style to question his methods, saying: "I remember after a game against QPR, he got a can of Red Bull and threw it across into the shower. He said, 'I see you all drinking Red Bull, it doesn't work. Do the science.'"

That pushes the row beyond a simple disagreement over one player. Keane made the original claim, but Agbonlahor answered with a mix of evidence and attitude, and the evidence is on Villa's captain's side.

Villa have won 6 of their last 10, and McGinn has featured in the recent run. If the argument is whether he deserves the "pub player" line, the recent performances point firmly the other way.

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