“The first book was certainly a mistake.”
Roy Keane has said that he “regrets” his first autobiography.
According to the former Manchester United captain, his first book, published in 2002, was a “mistake” because he was still a professional footballer.
He looks back at his second autobiography, published in 2013, more favourably.
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Both of Keane’s books caused a stir and sold a lot of copies.
The first one, written with Eamon Dunphy, landed him in trouble with the Football Association over comments about a tackle he had made on Alf-Inge Haaland.
Keane was banned for five matches and fined £150,000 after an FA inquiry. The second book didn’t lead to any fines, but Keane was able to present his version of events regarding his controversial exit from United.
https://www.sportsjoe.ie/football/roy-keane-kieran-richardson-man-united-179801
In a wide-ranging interview on Team Talk, a show on Notts TV, Keane was asked if he wrote the two books as a way to “set the record straight.”
“Do you know what? Good question. I’m not sure,” Keane replied.
“The first book was certainly a mistake. I think you get drawn into situations, you get book offers, you think, ‘Well, it might be a good experience’. That was a mistake because I was still playing.
“My advice to anyone now, if you’re in the game and you want to write a book, just wait ’till your career is over. And make sure you get a good writer.”
The line about hiring a “good writer” could be a dig at Dunphy.
The veteran broadcaster was Keane’s ghostwriter on the book. The pair had a working relationship at the time. Dunphy was a staunch defender of the former Ireland captain during the Saipan incident before the 2002 World Cup and for the rest of his playing career.
However, they no longer appear to be on good terms. Dunphy has been a critic of the Corkman in his role as assistant manager of the Ireland team.
“Keane is finished” – Eamon Dunphy claims Roy Keane will never get another job in football
In his second book, Keane said that the journalist “didn’t help” his defence when called up for the FA inquiry over the Haaland comments.
“He’d already said that he’d used his own words to describe the tackle,” it reads in The Second Half.
“Before we went in, I’d been going to say to him, ‘Eamon, if they ask you if you think I intentionally went to injure Håland, say no.’
“But I decided not to; I wouldn’t embarrass him by saying something as simple as that. Sturman asked him, ‘Mister Dunphy, do you think Mister Keane intentionally went to injure his fellow professional, Mister Håland?’
And Eamon’s three words back to Sturman were ‘Without a doubt.’
“That was the case, my defence, out the window.”
Keane said that he feels a lot more positive about his second autobiography and he got along very well with Doyle, who worked as the ghost writer for the book.
“My second book, strangely enough, I met Roddy Doyle and I had the offer to work with him. As soon as I met Roddy, I thought, ‘great guy, brilliant guy and it’ll be enjoyable because I wasn’t playing at the time’. And it certainly was.
“The first book was a mistake. The second one, no, because it was nice to look back and talk about my career and the ups and downs. A lot of people seemed to enjoy the book. Which is great.
You can watch the entire interview here.
