Keane: The Autobiography

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Opinions about Brian Clough were mixed in the dressing room. Some players were afraid of him. Others disliked him. Few grumbled that we didn’t see enough of the manager. My own view of Clough was coloured by the fact which remained foremost in my mind: he’d given me my chance, and I owed everything I now had to him. How many managers would risk their reputation by throwing a nineteen-year-old into the first team, at Anfield? A kid with no professional experience? More than that, his generous response to my requests for trips home to Cork had helped me through the difficult early days at Forest. Sure, he had his own way of doing things, but it worked for Forest. And for me.” The thing I love about this man is there is nothing he writes down that he would not say to someone's face -- Stan Collymore * THE PEOPLE * The hearing started at 12.15pm. The prosecution case, featuring video evidence and extracts from the book, was conducted by Jim Sturman QC and lasted an hour and a quarter before Keane gave evidence and was cross-examined for two and a half hours. Dunphy followed, claiming, it is understood, that Keane's comments in the book were unfaithfully reported, before closing statements and deliberation.

He doesn’t know this, but everybody (in the Manchester United squad when Keane joined) was buzzing to have him there. The honesty is enjoyable – no more so than the farcical scene when he tells his children there'll soon be less money in the house – but actually the account of the days and months at Sunderland and Ipswich is too conventional to be truly compelling. Now and then a sports autobiography comes along and breaks the mould (Paul Kimmage's book with Tony Cascarino, for instance) but this isn't one of them. Perhaps it would be unfair to expect even this all-star line-up to do so, and besides, anything further would not fit with Keane's desire for a life more ordinary. In a highly successful 18-year career, he played for Cobh Ramblers in the League of Ireland, Nottingham Forest and, most notably, Manchester United (both in England), before ending his career with a brief spell at Celtic in Scotland. Roy Keane won seven Premier League titles, four FA Cups and a Champions League trophy with Manchester United – not to mention the respect of virtually everyone he faced. MyHome.ie (Opens in new window) • Top 1000 • The Gloss (Opens in new window) • Recruit Ireland (Opens in new window) • Irish Times Training (Opens in new window)

Can you name Liverpool’s top 30 goalscorers of all time?

For a complete player, without a doubt Keano. Apart from the bad side he had, he was the complete midfield player for me. Keane’s great appeal lies in his capacity for violence, even if it’s his tongue that often does the damage, as Ferguson noted snidely in his book last year. The threat of an explosion is always present, yet those incidents that do occur here – shouting matches and grappling with players, arguments with opposing managers and their staff, even the climax to his United career in Ferguson’s office – are often sanitised by humour and so are difficult to reconcile fully with the fearsome character we know. When Keane says anything, listening is usually the best option. He's scarily extreme, dangerously provocative, oxy-acetylene forthright ... and hugely entertaining ... Self-desctruction, self-pity, self-laceration - his latest unburdening has all this and more. His book reveals more flaws and admits to more mistakes than Sir Alex Ferguson did in his last literary effort - and Keane's is much funnier -- Aidan Smith * SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY * We knew that he was a special player, we knew that he loved to have a bit of a moan, but we knew that he could produce the goods week in, week out, and we knew he was a winner.” Ole Gunnar Solskjaer Soon attention focused heavily on a passage about Keane seeking revenge on Alfie Inge Haaland which ultimately got Keane a suspension – reading the offending passage now it would be fairly easy to overlook it, had Haaland’s career not been cut short due to the injury he suffered. By the time the second edition was published in 2003, Keane had agreed to rewrite the passage in later editions as part of his punishment from the FA.

Something new I learned from this book, or something I thought about more deeply about this book is:The choice of Doyle marks an acceleration in the ghostwriting arms race (next week: Sam Allardyce and George R R Martin) and ensures Keane's humanity – rather than the belligerence captured by Eamon Dunphy in Keane's 2002 book – is to the fore. JK Rowling has described Doyle's The Woman Who Walked into Doors as her favourite book for his skill in inhabiting the life of abused wife Paula Spencer, a more than adequate preparation for the relatively straightforward contradictions of Ireland's most complex – and we use the term loosely – sports star.

With that, Ferguson and Keane were spirited through a side entrance at the stadium, the end of an extraordinary and gruelling day of evidence and deliberation. I've always been a fan of Keane. His intensity and desire to 'win' is evident throughout the book - something I've always admired. At the time I thought: ‘What’s he talking about?’ Then when I got home, I sat and thought about it and thought: ‘Yeah, you’ve got to try and affect the game.'” Paul Ince

Roy Maurice Keane (born 10 August 1971 in Mayfield, Cork) is a retired Irish footballer and the manager of English Championship club Ipswich Town. Whenever I read a sportsman’s second autobiography (usually published a bit after they have retired), I always like to reread their first one (usually published at peak of their carer). It can be fascinating to see how the same events or relationships are told differently with the benefit of more experience or changed dynamics. I hope to reread and write about some of my favourite double autobiographies. First up, the Manchester United and Ireland legend, Roy Keane! A very good read - we're given alot of information about the young life of Roy Keane that established him as the footballing superstar he became. Roy is a no-nonsense type of guy on and off the pitch. He stands up for what he believes and has the ability to tell it like it is, so for me this book was refreshing. We get some great insights behind the scenes at Man United and International duty, including Roy's side of the 2002 Saipan fiasco.

I'm surprised how much Roy Keane's second autobiography made me laugh ... More importantly the book told me that Keane should be the next Manchester United manager. The more I read what he had to say, and his reflections on his two jobs as boss, the more I realised how perfect he would be at Old Trafford -- Adrian Durham * MAIL ONLINE * Following the infamous Saipan incident: “As he waded in with one expletive after another I asked myself, ‘Was this my captain? Was this the man who could serve Ireland as a role model for our children?’ The answer was no.” Paul Scholes He would tear you to shreds on the pitch if you gave away the ball, ‘Get your effing touch right, effing this, effing that,’ but as soon as you got into the dressing room, it was over.

The former Manchester United and Ireland hard man comes across as funny, scathing, regretful and, as with so many forcefully clear-minded people, touchingly contradictory -- Giles Smith * THE TIMES * It now seems somewhat hypocritical for Keane to fall out with Irish players for not training when injured after making these comments in the second book. One thing is for certain is that as long as Keane is in the public eye controversy will follow him). A character I found interesting was Ryan Giggs because I know of him playing soccer it was interesting to find out how much of a dagg he was like Roy with his good sence of homour.