Then Jesper Blomqvist (below) underplayed a simple pass to his captain. It was the kind of '40-60' ball that that the Corkman lives on, but it put Zinedine Zidane in harm's way and Keane on the suspension list. No final. No full frontal night of glory in Barcelona . . . just the start of a bothersome itch that has burned and spread for six long years. It has remained unscratched in Saipan, Old Trafford and Merrion Square, and today another search for relief begins at the soccer backwater of Clyde FC and the third round of the Scottish Cup.

The month in which Jesper was sending his captain hospital passes was also the month that Clyde's season fell apart.

The "Bully Wee, " as they are known, had been pressing for promotion from Scotland's First Division, but that April they lost four on the bounce, and watched helplessly as their title aspirations disappeared over the rusting horizon of Glasgow's shipyards.

Years of financial mayhem followed, and stability has only recently been restored.

With home gates still averaging less than 2,000, they can still only afford to pay the kind of wage that wouldn't keep Roy Keane in raw meat for a week. Their training ground this week has been like the famous scene from Jurassic Park. They can see the ripples on the glass of water, smell the fear and feel the ground vibrating from menacing footsteps approaching from the green side of Glasgow. There is something mean and hungry about. The wee bully is coming to terrify the Bully Wee.

Roy Keane is certainly not the first sporting superstar to turn up in an unexpected place and his day trip to Clyde is far from the strangest excursion ever . . . witness the recent example of Pat Tillman. The Arizona Cardinals defender had discarded a multimilliondollar salary in the NFL and joined the army rangers in the patriotic hunt for Osama Bin Laden. He ended up on the side of an Afghan ridge yelling at his troops "I am Pat f**king Tillman. Hold your fire".

Unfortunately they didn't hear him.

If the Clyde squad don't already know who Roy f**king Keane is, they will by about five past one today. Some of the Celtic faithful were initially unsure of his commitment, and he will want to quell those doubts as soon as he can.

Additionally there will be some young gun at C lyde who will want to give him an early welcome to Scotland. Paddy Power are offering odds as to whether he is kicked as high as Mark Overmars at Lansdowne Road in 2001.

The question of commitment to a new regime has been an ongo ing worry for the bhoys and ghirls this season. There were stories earlier in the season that a senior player had to violently remind some colleagues that they ac tually played for Celtic FC and not just Martin O'Neill. Some responded to the call to arms and others didn't.

Chris Sutton left to join Birmingham this week, unable to stay at Parkhead "in the circumstances". This is probably just as well, because Roy Keane doesn't do circumstances, he just does right or wrong.

Gordon Strachan has been playing down the emotional significance of Keane's first start for The Hoops, but Clyde's manager is happy to ratchet up the tension and Graham Roberts does have an interesting past with Celtic. In 1987 he was arrested after an old firm derby and charged with a breach of the peace for musically conducting the Rangers fans in some colourful chanting. "He will know he has been in the game by the end of it. I can assure you of that. We know we have 11 players against 11 players and our 11 players will run through brick walls".

They will understand later today just how thick and unrelenting some walls in Cork can be.

If Blomqvist's dodgy square ball truly set in motion the events that bring Roy Keane to Clyde today, it didn't bring him much luck either. He played in the final against Bayern Munich but that was his last game for United . He was seriously injured during a pre-season training session and never fully recovered. There were no Mayfield finger prints found near the scene of the crime.

Jesper is unlike ly to be among 8,000 who will cram the stands at Broadwood Stadium to witness the latest intriguing episode in the epic story that is Roy Keane. The ground's eight corporate boxes will also be full. We can only hope that prawn sandwiches are not on the menu.