Kevin Kilbane feels that Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane will alienate himself from the Boys in Green squad by criticising the players.
Keane singled out Everton winger Aiden McGeady after Tuesday's 2-1 friendly defeat to Belarus, but Kilbane believes Keane's comments were unnecessary .
"For someone not in the know, they would think we are talking about the Republic of Ireland manager here, but Roy Keane is the assistant manager, that is the point," Kilbane told BBC Radio 5.
"Roy Keane comes out and questions the ability of one of the players in the squad in Aiden McGeady. Having played alongside Roy, if any assistant manager that he played for questioned one of his team-mates or him, he would have been one of the first to go and knock on the manager's door and assistant manager's door and say what are you doing.
"I think Roy was bang out of order with what he said, particularly about Aiden. He is the assistant manager and you have got to know your role."
Keane famously left the Ireland squad ahead of the 2002 World Cup following a run-in with manager Mick McCarthy, and Kilbane feels his actions this week could also be detrimental to the current squad.
"Roy is supposed to be the buffer between the players and the manager and all this is going to do is alienate Roy from the players," the 110-time Ireland international said.
"Now I’m sure Roy’s not bothered, he doesn’t care. But you have to have some kind of harmony going into this tournament.
"Roy has a vital role to play as a buffer to the manager and the players, but he has just got to curb it sometimes. He can’t come out and say what he said about Aiden."
