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It presents a revisionist view of a life in football that has had tabloid editors rubbing their hands with glee almost from the moment the fiery, confrontational midfielder made his British debut for Nottingham Forest under arch eccentric Brian Clough right through to his sensational bust-up with international boss Mick McCarthy and subsequent departure from the 2002 Irish World Cup squad on the eve of the finals.

Amid all the wrangling and point-scoring Dunphy and Keane have written a rags-to-riches review of Keane's journey from a poor, battling background in Cork to the £50k a week highlife at Old Trafford. It's very entertaining, although an independent biographer would doubtless have put a less heroic spin on proceedings.

The two key headline-grabbing stories--the war with McCarthy and the allegedly deliberate injuring of Alfie Haaland--read somewhat differently in the book from the way they did in the papers. Make no mistake about it, Keane is frank about his own failings, franker about the failings of others and prepared to spill the beans to some extent about being the odd-man-out in the Old Trafford glam-fest. But this is very much his side of the story. --Alex Hankin

Average Customer Rating:

Roy's keen

Customer Rating:

This blankly-titled, ghost-written autobiography is Roy Keane's stab at telling the story of his career. Eschewing the modern trend for dwelling intensely upon aspects of your personal life KEANE's narrative zooms in on the particular details and events of his football career. That means we hear about the many rejection letters he received from English clubs (including Aston Villa, Chelsea and Derby County); time spent with his Irish club Cobh Ramblers; his introduction to English football with Nottingham Forest and the mixed fortunes that he enjoyed at club and country level with Manchester United and the Republic of Ireland. In the revised edition of this autobiography Keane remarks upon the fact that "Critics have long complained about sports autobiographies that reveal nothing". Fortunately, for the reader KEANE does not suffer from this failing. He is as candid as his Nottingham Forest boss Brian Clough was in his pomp. Nobody, and nothing, is free from his wrath. The book is littered with examples. He speaks of his preference for dogs over people by arguing that unlike humans, canines "won't betray you or otherwise let you down". Following defeat in the 2000 Champions League semi-final against Bayer Leverkusen he derides his Manchester United team mates for being more interested in material objects and goods ("Rolex watches, garages full of cars... mansions") rather than concentrating on the game of football which enabled them to get these things in the first place. The criticisms he openly voices about the Republic of Ireland set-up show that hell hath no fury like Roy Keane scorned. He kicks out at the organisational body that runs Irish football (the Football Association of Ireland) by waspishly remarking that to describe them as "amateur would be an insult to amateurs". That censorious attitude extends to Englishman Jack Charlton, who had been lionised in Ireland because of the unprecedented success the country had enjoyed under his management. Firstly, he states that he does not like him personally. "I found it impossible to relate to him as a man". This is followed by a comparison with his then club boss Clough which extends his attack to his professional capabilities: "Clough was astute and capable of detailed analysis, Charlton merely blustered, was short on detail, long on generalization". Those sentiments help to contextualize the history which under-laid his infamous walk-out from the 2002 World Cup. Sometimes, as you turn page after page, to find more unrelenting, criticism you can become weary. Ex-Manchester United team mate Jaap Stam clearly felt that Keane was too keen, too headstrong. In Stam's autobiography he wrote that Keane was `on another planet'. What is his response to this slight? He agrees. Proudly, he replies "Yes, Jaap. Planet Manchester United, where I always wanted to be". Periodically, his single-mindedness and fury comes across in his angry prose. Recalling a spell outside of football for a season because of injury he argues that "seen from a windowless gym on a winter afternoon, the game looked like a bad movie, full of spivs, bluffers... hangers-on... and bad actors". Keane's reflections upon his various managers are particularly illuminating in light of his latest job as manager of Sunderland. Clearly, if he wishes to emulate Alex Ferguson, his long-term manager at Manchester United, he will have to work hard. In praising Ferguson for his diligence Keane observes that he knows Manchester United comprehensively: "[He]watches A team and reserve matches as keenly as the first team; will know as much about a youth team player... as about the first team players". He may also wish to be more sensitive and caring than some of his managers have been on occasions. At one point he recalls an incident in which following a stray pass-back to his goalkeeper resulted in a goal against his team manager Brian Clough punched him in the face in the dressing room. His toleration of the incident shows him to be a product of a different era in football. Casually, he describes Clough's actions as "part of my learning curve". KEANE is, like its author, blunt and uncompromising.

The Stuff of True Leaders	Customer Rating:
You don't have to be Irish, A Man Utd fan or a beer drinker to appreciate the autobiography of a true leader. I'm neither of the above three and yet I found this book compelling reading. Several notable anecdotes including the famous Haaland and Saipan incidents but I will remember this book for a long time because of one popular quote; "The only thing that goes with the flow is a dead fish."

Not Fit forToilet Paper	Customer Rating:
This book is an abosolute discgrace. Anything that is touched by Eamon Dunphy is a complete disaster. Eamon Dunphy - Boil on the face of Humanity...

TOP	Customer Rating:
Best footballers book i have read. He says the brutal true and it is ace couldn't put it down nearly cost me my degree hehe. And i ain't even a Man utd Fan

Best book ever!

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I read this book last summer. I think I finished the first two pages and I said to one of my friends "this is the best book I've ever hold in my hands.! Forget the Lord of The Rings and Harry Potter, you have to read this book!" and when I finished it, a week or so later, I was so sorry that it wasn't my book..that I'd just borrowed it... This is the best book ever, no doubt about it! I love this book, you really get a good impression of the Irish man. Everything you might want to know about him, like why he tackled Alfie Haaland and if it was on purpose, you find an answer in this book. READ IT!