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Roy Keane Continues To Give Nary A Frig...

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themn

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His latest biography is out this week.

LET'S GET IT ON!


http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/06/roy-keane-manchester-united-sir-alex-ferguson


Roy Keane reveals details behind his explosive Manchester United exit

• Keane had bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson and Carlos Quieroz
• Keane says Ferguson told him ‘we’re tearing up your contract

Roy-Keane-009.jpg
Roy Keane has revealed the details behind his departure from Manchester United in his latest book. Photograph: John Giles/PA Archive/Press Association Ima
Roy Keane has revealed the details of his explosive departure from Manchester United in 2005, claiming a training ground bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson and his assistant Carlos Queiroz made his Old Trafford exit inevitable. The former midfielder also detailed an incident where he head-butted Peter Schmeichel, leaving the goalkeeper with a black eye.
Keane’s shock departure was widely believed to be down to an interview with MUTV in which the Irishman criticised a number of his team-mates following a lacklustre performance in a 4-1 defeat by Middlesbrough.
But Keane, in his new autobiography, ‘The Second Half’ explains that a fierce falling out on a pre-season training camp on the Algarve proved the final straw.
“He was just on my right shoulder; how I didn’t fucking 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 fucking 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.”
Keane went on to reveal that Ferguson soon stepped in, saying: “‘That’s enough. I’ve had enough of all this’”, which prompted the midfielder to round on his manager, replying: “,You as well gaffer. We need fucking more from you. We need a bit more, gaffer. We’re slipping behind other teams.,”
Manchester United fined Keane £5,000 for the MUTV interview but when Ferguson dropped him from a reserve game in which he was supposed to continue his rehabilitation from a broken foot, the Irishman knew the writing was on the wall.
Keane claims that Ferguson and David Gill had prepared a written statement to confirm his departure and further angered him by getting the length of his service at Old Trafford wrong.
Keane continued: “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, ‘Fucking prick’ – and I stood up and went ‘Yeah. I’m off.’”
Keane also said he regrets attempting to reconcile with Ferguson and Queiroz a few days later.
“Now I kind of wish I hadn’t. Afterwards I was thinking, ‘I’m not sure why I fucking 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.”
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Roy Keane head-butted Peter Schmeichel on a 1998 pre-season tour in Asia.Photograph: Andrew Couldridge/Action Images
Keane’s bust-up with Schmeichel came much earlier in his Manchester United career, on their pre-season tour to Asia in 1998, with the midfielder adding: “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.
“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. There was a lot of noise – Peter’s a big lad.
“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.
“In the meantime, Nicky Butt had been filling me in on what had happened the night before. Butty had refereed the fight. 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?’”
Roy Keane: The Second Half, published by Weidenfeld and Nicolson, £20. www.orionbooks.co.uk.
 
Daniel Taylor @DTguardian · 42m42 minutes ago
First chapter: Keane puts record straight on Alfie Haaland. "There are things I regret in my life and he's not one of them."

Daniel Taylor @DTguardian · 37m37 minutes ago
Keane says he absolutely did not want to injure Haaland. "The charges hurt me - the idea I'd bragged . . in hope of selling extra books"

Daniel Taylor @DTguardian · 30m30 minutes ago
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 @DTguardian · 17m17 minutes ago
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 @DTguardian · 11m11 minutes ago
Keane's book on @OfficialVieira and Arsenal tunnel row: "If it had come to a fight, Patrick could probably have killed me."

Alex Shaw @AlexShawESPN · 11m11 minutes ago
Keane's brilliant. Driving to add more miles to a club car as he's on the way out because 'every little victory matters'.
 
He must surely regret not telling Adrain Chiles to fuck off (live on on the telly)?
 
I miss him looking crazy and unsettling everyone on the itv coverage. Him and Chiles was just an ingenious combination of utter fool/fool-intolerant maniac.
 
http://www.theguardian.com/football...-abba-robbie-savage-ellis-short-pablo-counago

1 Welcome to Hell

“My first game [for Celtic] was Clyde, away, in the third round of the Scottish Cup. We were beaten 2-1. It was a nightmare. I wasn’t happy with my own game. I did OK, but OK wasn’t good enough. After the game – the disappointment. As I was taking my jersey off, I noticed the Nike tag was still on it. When I got on the bus John Hartson, a really good guy, was already sitting there and he was eating a packet of crisps – with a fizzy drink. I said to myself: ‘Welcome to Hell.’”
2 Who’s in charge?

“It might seem strange but you find out about characters when you look to see who’s in charge of the music. A young lad might want to put on the latest sound; an older player might say: ‘I’m the senior player’ and put himself in charge. But I noticed none of the players [at Sunderland] were in charge of the music and this was a concern for me. A member of staff was in charge. I was looking at him thinking: ‘I hope someone nails him here.’ The last song before the players went on to the pitch was ‘Dancing Queen’ by Abba. What really worried me was that none of the players – not one – said: ‘Get that shit off.’ They were going out to play a match, men versus men, testosterone levels were high. You’ve got to hit people at pace. Fuckin’ ‘Dancing Queen.’ It worried me. I didn’t have as many leaders as I thought.”
3 Blue is not the colour

“Our first session [at Ipswich]was open to the fans. But nobody came. My first day – you’d have thought a couple of school kids would have been dragged in by a dad or grandad. The warmth wasn’t there. Then there was the blue training kit. I don’t like fuckin’ blue. City were blue. Rangers were blue. My biggest rivals were blue. Is that childish? I couldn’t feel it – the chemistry. Me and the club. I get annoyed now, thinking that I should have been able to accept it: I was there to do a job.”
4 Lack of respect from Ferguson

Keane reveals that when he took Sunderland to Manchester United for his first match back at Old Trafford as a manager there was no post-match drink with Sir Alex Ferguson. “Ferguson never turned up. I thought that was out of order. He called me a few days later to apologise. He said he’d had to rush off after the game and he’d waited a long time for me. I told him he should have a drink with me, like he would have with any other manager, and that he hadn’t shown me or my staff proper respect.”
1 Voicemail turnoff

“I rang Mark Hughes. Robbie [Savage] wasn’t in the Blackburn team and I asked Mark if we could try to arrange a deal. Sparky said: ‘Yeah, yeah, he’s lost his way here but he could still do a job for you.’ Robbie’s legs were going a bit but I thought he might come up to us [at Sunderland], with his long hair, and give us a lift – the way Yorkie [Dwight Yorke] had, a big personality in the dressing room. Sparky gave me permission to give him a call. So I got Robbie’s mobile number and rang him. It went to his voicemail: ‘Hi, it’s Robbie – whazzup!’ like the Budweiser ad. I never called him back. I thought: ‘I can’t be fucking signing that.’”
6 Bottom of Ellis Short’s shoe

“The owner [Ellis Short] rang me. He said: ‘I hear you’re coming in only one day a week.’ I went: ‘It’s nonsense. He said he was disappointed with the Bolton result. His tone wasn’t good. ‘Your location – where you live. You need to move up with your family. I was in the third year of a three-year contract. The arrangement – the flat in Durham, family in Manchester – has suited everybody, until now. I’m not sure if I said something like: ‘Why don’t you move up?’ He lived in London. But I did say: ‘I’m not moving, I’m in the last six or seven months of my contract anyway.’ The conversation didn’t end well. It was a case of ‘no one should tell me where to live’ and the accusation that I was coming in only one day a week hung there. I thought he was talking to me; he spoke to me like I was something on the bottom of his shoe. And before I knew it was – it was over. It still saddens me. I still think I should be the manager of Sunderland. I really liked the club, and I liked the people. But Ellis Short was new – and I wasn’t his manager. It’s probably true that the relationship was never going to work, and not because he was some big, bad Texan and I was some grumpy Northsider from Cork. I don’t like being spoken down to.”
7 Hard on the Corkmen

Damien Delaney came in and did OK. I was hard on him, probably because I knew him and he was from Cork. I went over the top. I was the same with another lad, Colin Healy. He was from Cork, too, and I told him he was moving his feet like a League of Ireland player. It was wrong. Colin was new at the club; I should have been bending over backwards for him. I made the point about Ellis Short talking to me like I was something on the bottom of his shoe. I think I spoke like that to some people at Ipswich.”
8 Walters is a wanted man

“Jon Walters wanted to leave. We were four or five games into the season. He’d heard that Stoke were interested in him. I said: ‘Jon, I haven’t had a call from anybody.’ He came back a few days later. ‘They’re definitely after me.’ I said: ‘I’ve heard nothing. If there’s a bid, I’ll tell you. I’ve nothing to hide from you. You can ring the owner. I don’t do the business deals.’ ‘I’m not having this.’ There was effing and blinding, a bit of shoving. ‘Why don’t you fucking believe me?’ He was sold to Stoke a week later. We’ve shook hands since.”
9 Couñago’s reply

“Pablo Couñago was a player I didn’t particularly like or get on with. No club was interested in taking him – and I was happy to tell him that. I just found him dead lazy. He went: ‘How are we going to win anything with you as manager?’ I nearly physically attacked him – but I didn’t.”
10 A class apart

“He [Paul Scholes] was a top, top player. But I still don’t fall for the boy-next-door image, or that he’s dead humble. He has more of an edge to him. Everyone thinks he lives in a council flat. The Class of ’92 – all good players, but their role at the club has become exaggerated. ‘Class of 92’ seems to have grown its own legs; it has become a brand. It’s as if they were a team away from the team, and they’re not shy of plugging into it. We all had the same aims; we all had the hunger.”
 
He's fucking right though... Dancing queen, that's definitely a sign that something is bad
 
If only we'd signed him. Didn't Kenny drag his heels and Fergie stepped in?


Kenny wouldn't have dragged his heels over a key player like that. He was the first manager to try to get him to leave Forest when he was at Blackburn. Souey was manager here. He was interested but Ginsoak got him. A big turning point, not even in retrospect, but obvious at the time.
 
Oh, how I hope Mourinho tries to go toe-to-toe with Keane...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/09/roy-keane-jose-mourinho-aston-villa-alex-ferguson


Roy Keane blasts ‘disgraceful’ José Mourinho over handshake offer

• Aston Villa assistant angry at gesture during defeat
• Keane explains absence from Alex Ferguson statue unveiling
Roy-Keane-at-the-IMI-conf-008.jpg
Roy Keane was stern when talking about José Mourinho at his book launch in Dublin. Photograph: Mark Doyle/Splash News/Corbis
Roy Keane’s most outspoken attack on Sir Alex Ferguson branched out into caustic criticisms of José Mourinho as he branded the Chelsea’s manager conduct “disgraceful” and explained why he refused to shake his hand towards the end of Aston Villa’s recent match at Stamford Bridge. “The game is still going on,” Keane said. “You wouldn’t do that on a Sunday morning, you would get knocked out.”
Keane was talking at the official launch of his latest autobiography, The Second Half, where he accused Ferguson of telling “lies, basic lies” about him and questioned why the media and other managers – with Tony Pulis indirectly referenced – were either “frightened” of the former Manchester United manager or among his “disciples”.
Yet Mourinho also appears on Keane’s radar as he reflected on being in the opposite dugout during a 3-0 defeat for Villa – and why he had deliberately snubbed the Portuguese when he offered his hand. “I don’t mind all that [mind games] but the game is still going on. It’s disgraceful. I’ve seen him doing it to other managers; it is a disgrace.”
Asked whether it was arrogant and disrespectful, Keane replied: “What do you think? That’s a stupid question.”
Keane was in no mood to be conciliatory as he alleged that former team-mates from Old Trafford had told “lies and lies and lies” about him, but his real spite was reserved for Ferguson. “He was never critical when we were winning trophies and he was getting his new contracts, getting this and that named after him – Sir this, and whatever else. He made millions of pounds out of it. He got his statues. He got his stand named after him. To criticise people who brought him success was just ridiculous.”
Keane explained why he had refused to attend the unveiling of Ferguson’s statue at Old Trafford. “I think I did [get an invitation], yeah. But I don’t think he invited me. It was probably his committee or his son or whatever, but why would I go to that? That was all power and control to him. So he comes in and we’re all standing there [gesturing sycophantic applause] and he’s: ‘I’ve got you where I want you.’”
The former United captain also reflected on how Ferguson had withdrawn his loan players from Preston North End after his son, Darren, had been sacked as their manager – and how Stoke City, then managed by Pulis, had followed suit. “[Roberto] Martínez reckons he was misquoted a few years ago when he said Ferguson had his disciples. But he obviously does. When a manager takes players away from being on loan – I think it was Preston – when his son [Darren] got the sack. And, all of a sudden, all the players are being brought back from their loans.”
 
And, there is more...

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/09/roy-keane-book-manchester-united-alex-ferguson


Roy Keane: the stuff Alex Ferguson fed the press was lies, basic lies

At the launch of his new book, Roy Keane discusses Sir Alex Ferguson, Alf Inge Haaland, Twitter, Rock of Gibraltar and Abba
Roy Keane: I’m not sure if I will ever forgive Sir Alex Ferguson
Roy Keane: 10 more gems including Savage and Cork men
Roy-Keane-009.jpg
Roy Keane said that he had waited long enough and now was the time to release his second autobiography. Photograph: Mark Doyle/ Mark Doyle/Splash News/Corbis
You have said people were telling “a pack of lies” about you. Is there anything in particular that has hurt you?
I’m not going to start giving you names. I’m not going into every detail. But, in general, lies. Ex-team-mates; I’m pretty sure you know who I’m talking about.
In your book you talk about Ferguson coming to see you after Manchester United had beaten Sunderland and telling you to ring him about a loan deal for Jonny Evans – and that it was the first time he had shown you any affection. That suggests the relationship, in your mind, could have been healed
Don’t think he gave us Jonny for nothing. There was a pretty big loan fee involved. That was the time, OK, I felt: ‘Oh, right, maybe …’ but maybe I was wrong, maybe that was just business.
But there has been other stuff since?
Of course. There’s been plenty of stuff going on. You have to defend yourself. A lot of people are sitting around here and people are frightened of him. You [journalists] can’t go against him because you’ll never be allowed to speak to him again but, thank God, I don’t have them problems. Why do people let him get away with that? People sit back and are frightened to death of him.
It’s interesting you’re the only person who has come anywhere near to addressing the Rock of Gibraltar issue.
I’m not looking for plaudits for that. I didn’t go into see him about that. It was actually about my last book. I was giving him a chapter of that and it came up in conversation. I didn’t go into his room saying: ‘I think this is wrong’. That was just a conversation you have with a manager, particularly when you are a senior player. It wasn’t me going in and saying: ‘Listen, you need to have a look at yourself’. It was: ‘Listen, I’ve been told you’re not going to win this’. It wasn’t a case of me sticking my nose in someone’s business. I was in his office and if people think I was in his office every week having little chats, they’re sadly mistaken. I reckon there was five, six situations in 12 and a bit years I actually had a one-to-one with him.
Was there ever a time when you were afraid of Ferguson?
[Looks disgusted] Afraid of him?
You talk of people being afraid of him.
Yeah, yeah, I mean the media.
Are football managers?
I think a lot of managers would probably be intimidated by him, probably bow to him. I think a lot of managers are heavily influenced by him of course. [Roberto] Martínez reckons he was misquoted a few years ago when he said Ferguson had his disciples but he obviously does. When a manager takes players away from being on loan – I think it was Preston – when his son [Darren] got the sack. And, all of a sudden, all the players [from Stoke City, when Tony Pulis was manager] are being brought back from their loans.
Did you try to address what Ferguson said about you in his book?
I didn’t read his book.
He said your tongue was the hardest part of your body?
Well, what do you think?
I’ve never been kicked by you.
I kick pretty hard. It was a cheap dig. He was never critical when we were winning trophies and he was getting his new contracts, getting this and that named after him – Sir this, and whatever else. He was not pulling me or other players, saying: ‘Listen, you need to relax a bit.’ That was the game and I appreciate the game. The game finished, and we finished, but it was all the carry-on afterwards.
Did you get an invitation to the unveiling of Ferguson’s statue? All the other great ex-United players were and turned up.
I think I did, yeah, but I don’t think he invited me. It was probably his committee, or his son, or whatever, but why would I go to that? That was all power and control to him.
Ruud van Nistelrooy went.
But I’m not Ruud van Nistelrooy.
But he fell out with him badly too.
Not as badly as me.
But was Ferguson inviting you not a conciliatory gesture?
No, no, don’t …
Power and control, you say?
Yeah … so he comes in and we’re all standing there [gesturing sycophantic applause] and he’s: ‘I’ve got you where I want you.’
Has it been hard work being Roy Keane? Do you like yourself now?
That’s a bit heavy, isn’t it? I’m contented and comfortable with who I am … Jesus!
Have you seen Alf Inge Haaland’s response?
I played against him, I know what he’s like.
So what’s he like to play against?
[Long pause] Weak.
Mentally?
Everything. [Long pause] Average player.
You say “sneaky” in the book.
Sneaky? That’s being polite. What did he say? What was his response then?
It was on Twitter, about your beard.
On Twitter? I’ll say no more.
Will you ever forgive Ferguson?
Good question. I’m not sure. Football is a small world and eventually you will cross paths with people again. The problem, I suppose, I had is that when you have worked with somebody for such a long time – and obviously we had our disagreements and I departed, and I have no problems with that, it’s fine. It’s afterwards when people start coming out with all sorts of nonsense.
For Alex Ferguson, not just to criticise myself, but other players who were part of a team that brought some good days to lots of supporters … for him to criticise that when you think of what he made out of it. He made millions of pounds out of it. He got his statues. He got his stand named after him. To come back and criticise … I wasn’t too bothered about myself, but to criticise people who brought him success was just ridiculous. Will I ever forgive him? I don’t know. The stuff that has been said about me over the years, even from ex-team-mates, is a pack of lies, just lies and lies and lies and sometimes you just say: ‘Listen, I have to get up and say something myself and defend myself a little bit.’ Hopefully the book will reflect that. A lot of stuff I let go – lots of stuff I let go – but eventually you have to go: ‘Nah, nah, enough’s enough’. The lads at Man United were absolutely fantastic. They were great, great lads. Just because there were disagreements – obviously my situation with Peter [Schmeichel], which again was highlighted in the book – the days I had with them lads at United were probably the best days of my life. They were absolutely fantastic lads and we were winning trophies. So for people to try to tarnish that and have little digs, that’s why you have to come out fighting.
In 2005, when Ferguson said it had come to an end, you agreed with that. Can you explain why?
It’s quite hard to explain. I just knew. There was a lot of nonsense and propaganda coming out from United about this leaked [MUTV] video. They were quite happy to let that come out. They’d just been knocked out of the Champions League. There was a disagreement about the video but it was just nonsense. None of the players had an issue about it except Ferguson and [Carlos] Queiroz and they had already made up their minds about me anyway.
That wasn’t the issue. It was afterwards. When people are telling tales about me, saying this and that. It was the way it was handled, the statements and stuff coming out about me. I’m pretty sure I know the source of where it was coming from. Obviously Ferguson had friends in the media. There are a few of them here today. I can spot them a mile away. He was pals with them and he put little snippets about me out there. It was lies, basic lies. So I had to come out and say ‘listen …’ and now is the time. I had to bide my time and I’ve waited long enough, so there you go.
You didn’t look impressed by José Mourinho trying to shake your hand the other week?
No, because the game is still going on.
Why did he do it? Was it him after power too?
I don’t mind all that but the game is still going on. It’s disgraceful. I’ve seen him doing it to other managers; it is a disgrace. The game is still going on. You wouldn’t do that on a Sunday morning, you would get knocked out.
Disrespectful then? Arrogant?
What do you think? That’s a stupid question.
Does football still have its culture of what stays in the dressing room stays in the dressing room?
Probably not. It’s part of the industry now that what goes on in dressing rooms will eventually leak out. For example, I look at some teams now and they get a good result and the players in dressing rooms are all on Twitter and this carry-on. And they lost the previous 10. I think it’s OK if you’ve won the title and you’re entitled to celebrate. But the game is changing. I don’t miss the carry-on with some of the lads now. There is a lack of characters and good lads out there.
You are candid about your drinking earlier in your career. How many of your rows were due to drink or just the rage inside?
I think lots of young people – probably young Irish people and players – you do get involved in all that. When I was playing League of Ireland that was part of the show. When I was at Cobh straight after a match you went for a few pints. So I never felt that was wrong. But as you get a bit older, you pick up injuries, you get speaking to foreign players, you think maybe that’s not the way to be going, out and about, gallivanting. I think it’s great now and I would not change it. But if I was 19 years of age and someone said to me after a game that you best go home to eat some carbohydrates for fuel for the next week I’d be like: ‘Fucking hell, you need locking up, I’m going out.’
You were supportive of David Moyes, saying he had a weak dressing room?
He did, yeah.
Did he inherit an inferior squad?
There were certainly circumstances when he took over. You’re still taking over a good team but what you don’t need, and Man United were always pretty good at it, was that uncertainty there was obviously with [Nemanja] Vidic, Rio [Ferdinand], [Patrice] Evra, Giggsy [Ryan Giggs] coming to the end, so all that stuff didn’t help. What you need in football, more than anything else, is a couple of victories, some momentum and they never seemed to get that. I was going to Old Trafford and there was a lot of negativity around.
They got no momentum and it was as if David Moyes was snookered from the first few weeks. That negativity can get into the dressing room and that’s why I felt it was a weak dressing room. They should have dealt with that and the players should have done better. Whatever has gone on – the politics, managers leaving, lack of players coming in – they should have done better and they did let him down, without a shadow of a doubt.
Finally Roy, if Dancing Queen by Abba is the wrong song for the dressing room, what’s the right song?
Strangely enough, the music didn’t bother me in terms of getting motivated. So I don’t think I have a song that I could throw at you that would get me going. But I don’t think it would be Abba.
Hang about, your first single was Karma Chameleon?
[Pointing angrily] I was 12!
 
I am far from a fan of Keane but he is not afraid to speak the truth, even if it is his version.
It will be interesting to see if anyone, journalist or player, will have the balls to back up his opinion of Ferguson
 
Back in 1997 I was working in Jersey with a lad from Cork, he said that his dad and Roy Keane's dad ended up next to each other at pub toilets and Roy Keane's old fella stared across at his dad then pointed at his own knob and said 'You see this here cock, it's worth 12 million fucking quid, 12 fucking million quid, now that's a cock'.

True Story.
 
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