Keane: The Autobiography

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I'd waited long enough. I f****** hit him hard. The ball was there (I think). Take that you c***. And don't ever stand over me sneering about fake injuries. This was my favourite quote because this cheating player deserved it and the irish man got him. Something new I learned from this book, or something I thought about more deeply about this book is: The judgment took just over an hour for the independent disciplinary committee - chaired by Barry Bright, chair man of the FA's disciplinary committee - to reach. It is the dearth of integrity that makes Pietersen such a peevish, trifling character, and the surfeit that makes Keane so entrancingly epic ... the personification of honest to a fault ... he is as close as sport can offer to an Old Testament prophet. Heroically unconcerned with being loved, almost insanely devoted to telling what he regards as the plain truth, he may not always be engaging. But ... he stands out as utterly and irreducibly true to himself -- Matthew Norman * THE INDEPENDENT * Roddy Doyle's works, mostly set in a fictional Dublin suburb, often star quietly frustrated everymen, and it's this book's achievement to make you see its mighty subject in that light -- Anthony Cummins * DAILY TELEGRAPH *

The suspension is eased, from United's standpoint, by the fact that Keane is recovering from a knee injury and one of the five matches covered by the ban is a Worthington Cup tie with Leicester City on November 5.Pounding over every blade of grass, competing as if he would rather die of exhaustion than lose, he inspired all around him. I felt it was an honour to be associated with such a player.” Roddy Doyle is a great writer and, like Dunphy he also captures Keane’s voice well. It takes a few chapters to adjust to the subtly different style compared to the first book, but both feel like authentic Keane. A few anecdotes are repeated but mostly its fresh material. Roy Keane head-butted Peter Schmeichel on a 1998 pre-season tour in Asia. Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images He was a great influence, really. If Roy had a go at you, he did it because he cared. He was the best captain you could wish for. I've just got my copy of The Second Half and although I'm only a couple of chapters into it, it has not disappointed. People have their own opinions of Roy and some would be fearful of him, given how outspoken he can be. I have always judged people how I find them and I can honestly say I have never found a fault in him ... He had a fabulous career and I know I'm going to enjoy reading about it -- Jamie Carragher * DAILY MAIL *

I only played with him for two seasons at the end of my career, and he had some injuries, but I saw more than enough to appreciate his brilliance. Roy was unbelievable to play alongside and someone you could always trust. I soon learned that if you weren’t on your game he would be on top of you to make sure you were playing your part for the team. 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. Undoubtedly one of the best midfielders of his generation, Keane is just as well known for his antics off the pitch as he is his brilliant performances on it. 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.

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Each man trails numbers, stats that speak for themselves. The Man United captain played 600 times and won seven Premier League titles and a European Champions League; Pietersen, double Ashes winner, is England’s most prolific run-scorer of all time in all forms of the game. In both cases, however, it is not the decade of triumph that they dwell on, but the manner of its ending. For all the sweat and glory that preceded it, their lasting focus is, sadly, on the monosyllabic exchanges in an office, each lasting “less than five minutes”, that marked the final act. As Oedipus or Othello might have explained in a post-match interview, at the end of the day, Brian, life just isn’t fair.

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 * Every team needs a player like Keane, someone who can control the game and dominate the tempo. Tactically and positionally he always got it right and is very good in one-on-one duels.” Peter Schmeichel The rhythm of it compels attention - it's like someone talking directly to you in a pub ... It's a thoughtful book, for a footballer. But while it's taken a novelist to write his life, it may take a psychoanalyst to understand it -- Anthony Quinn * THE MAIL ON SUNDAY *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! Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle nails Keane's attitude and cadences... Compelling, eye-opening, and - whisper it - great fun -- Ben East * METRO * Reading the two books together definitely gives a truer and more complete picture of Keane than taking either book in isolation. The energy or drive remains obvious but 2014’s Roy Keane is understandable a bit wiser and probably a bit more cynical. Overall the story is of a fascinating life of a determined figure whose achievements have been matched by controversies caused largely by the same determination and qualities that led to his success in the first place.

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.” He's scarily extreme, dangerously provocative, oxy-acetylene forthright ... and hugely entertaining' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY No. 1 bestselling memoir of Roy Keane, former captain of Manchester United and Ireland - co-written with Man Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle. Overall, the Keane we encounter in book 2 is more reflective and self-critical. It’s the book of someone who has struggled in their second career to match the highs of their first. It’s much less about titles and victories and more about aging, starting again and trying to build a new career.

Summary

A dominating central-midfielder, Keane was noted for his aggressive and highly-competitive style of play, an attitude which helped him excel as captain of Manchester United from 1997 until his departure in 2005. Keane helped United achieve a sustained period of success in more than 12 years at the club, during which he established himself as one of the greatest players in the club's history.[citation needed] So I forgive the forthright Irishman for his contradictions in character. The professional athlete that we see on our televisions are as fictitious as any literary character, and thus I can judge Roy Keane as a character; and I’ve always liked characters in books or movies that have contradictions. Some examples of Keane’s Kontradictions include: Another book that came at me from a car boot sale. For me, it promised lots of inside info into the world of modern professional football. The enigmatic Mr Clough at Nottingham. The Ferguson regime at Old Trafford along with some juicy details of the famous dressing room hairdryer. Also Two books in one - the tales of a truly great Premier League footballer, flawed by raging moments of visceral destructiveness... then the tortuous account of an aspiring, complex 21st-century manager... addictive road-crash reading... But the book's true revelatory value is seen during Keane's time as manager of Sunderland, which he relates with a remarkable candour and honesty. An incomparable achievement - written with Booker prize-winner Roddy Doyle - illustrating the contemporary demands on a player and boss whose life has always been conducted with its own stark, peculiar, and sometimes violent, logic -- Neil Masuda * SUNDAY MIRROR *