Keane the autobiography

The book I am going to review is called Keane the autobiography. The book was published in 2002. This is the story of Roy Keane, the skipper of the richest football club in the world – Manchester United.

This book is basically about football and about winning matches and titles season after season but it also gives the off the pitch details of many footballer’s lives which is very interesting.

This is an autobiography of Roy Keane and he explains a lot about his life whilst growing up. Roy was brought up in a poor battling background in Cork. As he grew up money was scarce and he was aware of it but he wasn’t really short of it. He was given his first real chance when manager Brian Clough signed him for �5000 to play for Nottingham Forest. Nottingham Forest were on the verge of being relegated and Roy Keane was bought by Alex Ferguson for �3.75 million; a new British transfer record.

The main people talked about in the book are most of the man utd players, the manager and Mick McCarthy. The footballer I most enjoyed reading about apart from Roy was Eric Cantona. I picked up a great quote which sums up Eric Cantona, “Eric was a great pro, very serious about his football and immensely knowledgeable about the game. Collar turned up, back straight, chest stuck out, he glided into the arena as if he owned the fucking place”. Roy Keane described Eric as the best finisher he had ever seen. We are also reminded of Cantona’s Kung-fu kick. Bruce Lee would have been proud of that. He was banned for the rest of the season for his little stunt.

This book is full of the f word. I think this shows that Roy Keane is a pretty down to earth guy and wants to show the real harsh world of football. Roy Keane is one of the people I like to watch play football. He is a tough Irish midfielder, strong in the tackle, full of commitment and covers every blade of grass on the pitch. Keane was inspirational to the likes of Beckham, Giggs, Scholes, Neville and so on. It’s hard to believe that such a brilliant player was prevented from fulfilling a lifetime ambition of lifting the European cup because of one lousy booking.

I wasn’t at first sure about the message that was being conveyed in the book but at the end I thought about it and I think that he is telling us that you should never give up and always listen to advice and do what you want to do. I have a quote, ” it was sport rather than education that really mattered in our lives. Life began when the bell rang to signal the end of the school day”. This shows us that Roy had a huge interest in football and stuck at it even though he started unemployed and then just earned �50 a week. He made it happen.

This book was written for many reasons and two of them being to describe what exactly went on in the Ireland camp during the recent world cup and to explain his tackle on Alfie Haaland. Keane hasn’t said he took to the pitch with the intention to injure Haaland.

For me this book was fantastic because it made me think about how the media can blind people. I enjoyed reading about the man brought up in Cork with little money who went on to become nothing short of a legend earning about �60 000 a year.

This book is for all football fans and i advise you all to read it. A lot of you have probably been blinded by the media and their portrayal of Roy being a mad footballer out to kill. If you actually read the book you’ll find that he’s actually a nice descent guy. God created only one Keano. Be grateful.