Roy Keane puts the boot into Ferguson - again
Roy Keane’s second biography is coming out this week and, unsurprisingly, it looks set to reopen quite a few cans of worms.
‘The Second Half’ is due for release on October 9, but advance copies are out and we know several of the incidents that will be covered in the book.
Keane reveals the real story behind his dramatic departure from Manchester United in 2005 and the fight with manager Alex Ferguson that led up to it.
Interestingly, Ferguson will be in Dublin on Thursday for a speech at the Dublin Chamber of Commerce, but we can’t see the two meeting up for a drink to reminisce about old times.
The Guardian reports that Keane describes getting involved in a row with assistant coach Carlos Queiroz that grew to include Ferguson.
Keane to Queiroz: ‘Don’t you f*****g 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.”
And then Keane to Ferguson: “You as well gaffer. We need f*****g more from you. We need a bit more, gaffer. We’re slipping behind other teams.”
Keane attempted to reconcile with Ferguson and Queiroz, but now regrets that.
“Now I kind of wish I hadn’t. Afterwards I was thinking, ‘I’m not sure why I f*****g apologised.’ I just wanted to do the right thing. I was apologising for what had happened – that it had happened. But I wasn’t apologising for my behaviour or stance. There’s a difference – I had nothing to apologise for.”
Keane said the relationship deteriorated after the row and when he was dropped from a reserves game he felt it was clear he was no longer a part of Ferguson’s plans.
“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*****g p***k’ – and I stood up and went ‘Yeah. I’m off.’”
Other notable anecdotes in the book include a fist-fight with team-mate Peter Schmeichel on a tour of Asia in 1998.
“(Schmeichel) 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. There was a lot of noise – Peter’s a big lad.”
Keane on Fergie/Rock of Gibraltar. "He was just a mascot for them - 'look at me, how big I am '- and he didn't even own the bloody thing."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) October 6, 2014
Keane doesn’t appear to have mellowed much with age. According to a deluge of leaks on Twitter the Corkman airs his opinion on everything from Alex Ferguson’s protracted battle over racehorse Rock of Gibraltar to his fellow pundits to Rio Ferdinand missing a drugs test in 2003.
Roy Keane says he wouldn't have missed a drugs test like Rio Ferdinand at Manchester United http://t.co/K6UYmT3Gz1
— Man United Latest (@LatestManUtd) October 6, 2014
Keane's book on @OfficialVieira and Arsenal tunnel row: "If it had come to a fight, Patrick could probably have killed me."
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) October 6, 2014
Roy Keane reiterates "no regrets" stance over horror tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland http://t.co/pah937Nzvr pic.twitter.com/BlWYY6r7YF
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) October 6, 2014
Adrian Chiles asked Keane about missing CL final one too many times. Keane had had enough. "I felt like saying: 'Adrian, fuck you.'"
— Daniel Taylor (@DTathletic) October 6, 2014
‘The Second Half', written by Irish Booker prize-winner Roddy Doyle, goes on general sale on Thursday morning - expect it to sell out fast.
