We have a feeling that Roy Keane's latest book is going to be a very interesting read...
There are very few figures in Irish sport that can command as much attention and intrigue as Roy Keane does and we're eagerly awaiting the release of his newest autobiography, The Second Half, which will be released later this week.
His previous book was a revelatory affair that lifted the lid about THAT tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland, his time at Old Trafford and the Saipan affair so it comes as no surprise to us that the first taste of his new book is just as interesting.
A number of UK media outlets, including
The Mirror, have managed to get their hands on advance copies and have revealed a few interesting snippets of information regarding Keane, such as...
On hearing he was no longer wanted at Man Utd
“I said to Ferguson, ‘Can I play for somebody else?’ And he said, ‘Yeah you can, cos we’re tearing up your contract’. So I thought, ‘All right – I’ll get fixed up.’ I knew there’d be clubs in for me when the news got out. I said, ‘Yeah – I think we have come to the end.’ I just thought, ‘F#*king prick’ – and I stood up and went ‘Yeah. I’m off.’”
Taking the high road upon leaving the club
Arguing with assistant manager Carlos Queiroz after the infamous MUTV interview
“He was just on my right shoulder; how I didn’t f#*king hit him again – I was thinking, ‘The villa in Portugal, not treating me well in training – and he just used the word “loyalty” to me,’” said Keane about Queiroz.
“I said, ‘Don’t you f#*king talk to me about loyalty, Carlos. You left this club after 12 months a few years ago for the Real Madrid job. Don’t you dare question my loyalty. I had opportunities to go to Juventus and Bayern Munich. And while we’re at it we spoke about training downstairs. And were just on about mixing things up in training a bit.”
Speaking of mixing things up...
On Alf Inge Haaland
His brawl with Peter Schmeichel
Keane writes: "I had a bust-up with Peter when we were on a pre-season tour of Asia, in 1998, just after I came back from my cruciate injury. I think we were in Hong Kong. There was drink involved."
"There'd been a little bit of tension between us over the years, for football reasons. Peter would come out shouting at players, and I felt sometimes he was playing up to the crowd: 'Look at me!' "He said: 'I've had enough of you, It's time we sorted this out.' So I said 'Okay' and we had a fight. It felt like 10 minutes."
"I woke up the next morning. I kind of vaguely remembered the fight. My hand was really sore and one of my fingers was bent backwards. The manager had a go at us as we were getting on the bus, and people were going on about a fight in the hotel the night before. It started coming back to me - the fight between me and Peter. Anyway, Peter had grabbed me, I'd head-butted him - we'd been fighting for ages."
"At the press conference, Peter took his sunglasses off. He had a black eye. The questions came at him 'Peter, what happened to your eye?' "He said 'I just got an elbow last night, in training'. And that was the end of it.
Alex Ferguson disciplining the duo
"The first day back at the training ground, the manager pulled myself and Peter into his office. "He knew exactly where we'd fought - I think he mentioned the 27th floor.
He told us that we were a disgrace to the club, and that we'd woken Bobby Charlton up, that Bobby had come out of his room and seen us. Peter took responsibility for the fight, which was good. I admired him for it. But Sir Bobby could have tried to break it up."
The first time John O'Shea faced Cristiano Ronaldo
That tunnel fight with Patrick Viera
Rio Ferdinand missing his drugs test
"He suffered for it and so did the team. If it had been me, and the doctor had said I had to do a drugs test, I'd have gone and done it. It wasn't something I'd have forgotten."
"It wouldn't have been like collecting a letter at the office, or remembering your boots. When a doctor says you've got to do a drugs test, it's not an everyday thing. But then, some people are genuinely forgetful.
"I don't think I was annoyed a the time, and I don't think the other players were either. But, ultimately, the team suffered. I didn't look at Rio and think that he'd been up to no good, or that there was a hidden reason for what had occurred.
More to follow...
