Roy Keane has refused to apologise to Andy Robertson for calling the defender a big baby during an online reunion on Stick to Football.
The Sky Sports pundit stood by his 2023 comments while appearing alongside Robertson on an episode of the show released by The Overlap on September 22, 2026.
Keane smiled as he addressed the original controversy, telling the studio that he had no intention of retracting his words. The former Manchester United captain explained that long studio shifts can leave pundits feeling flat and agitated, which influenced his reaction during the broadcast.
"This is not an apology!" Keane said. "Players have to remember sometimes, we're in the studio, we can have long days, and it can be a bit flat. Sometimes a player can do something and you're just a bit like... you can be agitated by having a long day. None of them are saying anything, I'm looking at them like 'you gotta say something.' That's why I threw the last baby in!"
Robertson interjected that he was not expecting an apology from the pundit. The Scotland international defender joked: "The first two babies were alright, the third one was too far."
The 2023 Linesman Incident
The original clash occurred in April 2023 when Robertson was playing as a left-back for Liverpool in a Premier League match against Arsenal. As the players walked off the field at half-time, Robertson appeared to speak to assistant referee Constantine Hatzidakis while lightly touching him on the right elbow.
Hatzidakis responded by lifting his elbow into Robertson's face. The defender was left holding his chin and reported the contact immediately, saying: "He's just elbowed me in the throat. The linesman has elbowed me in the throat."
Following the incident, Liverpool players remonstrated with referee Paul Tierney on the pitch. Hatzidakis was subsequently pulled from officiating duty while an investigation into the matter was conducted.
Reviewing the footage at half-time in the Sky Sports studio alongside fellow pundit Gary Neville, Keane expressed little sympathy for the defender's complaints.
"Do you know what he is? That Robertson, I’ve watched him a number of times. He’s a big baby. That’s what that guy is," Keane said at the time. "Just get on with the game and concentrate on your defending. He does grab the linesman first."
Keane repeated the word baby multiple times during the live broadcast, leaving Neville and the studio production crew laughing.
Tragedy and Heartbreak at Anfield
Elsewhere in the episode of Stick to Football, Robertson, who has since transferred from Liverpool to London club Tottenham Hotspur, offered an emotional reflection on his final season at Anfield.
The defender revealed that summer signings Alexander Isak and Florian Wirtz struggled to settle at the Merseyside club during the 2025-26 season because the squad was grieving the death of team-mate Diogo Jota.
Jota was tragically killed alongside his brother Andre Silva in a car crash in northern Spain in July 2025. The 28-year-old Portuguese forward was traveling to report for pre-season training with Liverpool when the accident occurred.
That same summer, Liverpool invested a combined £241 million to purchase Swedish striker Isak and German playmaker Wirtz. However, both players faced a challenging debut campaign as Liverpool struggled on the pitch, eventually finishing fifth in the Premier League and failing to win any silverware.
"It's difficult to describe or talk about really because what we went through, it was horrendous," Robertson said. "If I'm talking about the new signings, they're coming into a club that is heartbroken. And that is where I felt so sorry for these guys because they had signed and had signed for big money and all."
Robertson added: "If I'm talking about football, it took them months to settle in because we didn't care about football. That was the truth of it because we just lost one of your best mates in the changing room."
Loss of Determination and Departure
Robertson had been entering the final year of his contract at Liverpool when the tragedy occurred, having already won every major honour available during his time at Anfield, including the Premier League and Champions League titles.
He confessed that the squad lost their competitive edge and focus on the pitch as they struggled to cope with the loss of their friend and colleague.
"I think all footballers we all have that edge, don't we?" Robertson said. "I think when you lose that edge sometimes, then you can't perform to your best. And I think last season we lost the edge."
The left-back explained how grief impacted their performances throughout the campaign. "When I look back on it, we lost that maybe determination a little bit, and things like that because I know at times we were going 'What's the point?' Look at what Jotsy's family are going through, look at his kids."
Robertson concluded: "But yeah, we were grieving as a group. It was our mate at the end of the day. He's not a footballer to us. He was a team-mate, he was a friend, he was an everything."
