The Swansea City vice captain will come face to face with Roy Keane at Portman Road next Saturday with the former Man Utd man fighting it seems to remain in charge at Ipswich.
No league wins so far this season has seen one of the pre-season promotion favourites rooted to the bottom of the table and Tate wants to add to the misery of the man whose boots he used to clean at Old Trafford.
Tate told News of the World “Keano is one of my idols. He was a massive influence on my career.
“I was captain at United’s youth team and he was always as good as gold to me. He used to give me advice and when I was made captain of the Under-17s he pulled me to one side and told me I always had to speak my mind, that a captain can’t be quiet.
“It’s advice I follow to this day at Swansea. If there’s something on my mind I’ll say it out loud.
“I got to know Keano a bit better than the other youngsters at United because I cleaned his boots in my first year at the club.
“The youth team lads had to clean the boots of two senior players and I was given Keano and Jordi Cruyff.
“There I was, 16 years old and cleaning Roy Keane’s boots. He’s not someone you wanted to upset so I used to spend an extra 10 minutes on his boots. As long as they were done he was OK and he used to give me a tip at the end of ths season. But I did get a right rollocking off him once when I forgot to clean his boots one morning. He was furious with me. Put it this way I never forgot to clean his boots again”
“It will be nice to see Keano again when we go to Ipswich. He’s not having the best of times at the moment and it’s not nice seeing him under pressure. Even though I think the world of him I hope we add to his problems on Saturday.
“We’re going over there looking to turn hi steam over. That’s football and Keano knows it. The fact that we’re playing his side doesn’t give me any extra incentive because I give my best in every game.
“But at the same time it would be nice to go to Ipswich and play well in front of him. He was the player I most looked up to at United. I learned so much from him. I’d like to show him how much I’ve progressed since leaving United a few years ago.
“I think he can turn things around at Ipswich but he’s got to be given time. He’s got very high standards and if there are players who aren’t responding then maybe they’re the ones who should go, not the manager.
“I’m surprised to see them down the bottom. I had them down as top six contenders before the season started. He’s brought in a lot of players and introduced his own ideas and beliefs. It might take a bit of time for everything to gel. I’m not worried we’re playing them when they’re still waiting for their first win. People might think they’ll beat us because they’re due a win but I don’t believe in that.”
