'A masterpiece...thoughtful and self-mocking,insightful and funny'THE TIMES'He's scarily extreme,dangerously provocative,oxy-acetylene forthright ...and hugely entertaining'SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY'Searingly honest'THE SUN'A thoroughly entertaining rampage'Matt Dickinson,THE TIMES BOOKS OF THE YEARNo. 1 bestselling memoir of Roy Keane,former captain of Manchester United and Ireland - co-written with Man Booker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle. In a stunning collaboration with Booker Prize-winning author Roddy Doyle,Roy Keane gives a brutally honest account of his last days as a player,the highs and lows of his managerial career,and his life as an outspoken ITV pundit.'Roy Keane's book is a masterpiece...It may well be the finest,most incisive deconstruction of football management that the game has ever produced'Mail on Sunday'A genuine pleasure...His thoughts on his players are humane,interesting,candid and never less than believable'The Times'The best things are the small things: regretting joining Ipswich when he discovered the training kit was blue; refusing to sign Robbie Savage because his answerphone message was rubbish; being appalled that his side had listened to an Abba song before playing football'Evening Standard'The book is brilliantly constructed,rattling along at breakneck speed...full of self-deprecation...a ruthless self-examination'Daily Telegraph

Publisher: Orion Publishing CoISBN: 9781780228822Number of pages: 320Weight: 275 gDimensions: 196 x 128 x 24 mm

Roy Keane's book is a masterpiece: The Second Half gives a startling account of his colourful career and reveals the hard-man midfielder's long-hidden good points...Keane's book,ghost-written by Roddy Doyle,is an endlessly absorbing piece of work.It may well be the finest,most incisive deconstruction of footballmanagement that the game hasever producedThere is much in Roy Keane's new book that is thoughtful and self-mocking,insightful and funnyKeane's book - ghosted by Roddy Doyle - is brutal,amusing and self-deprecating,often at the same timeRoddy Doyle's works,mostly set in a fictional Dublin suburb,often starquietly frustrated everymen,and it's this book's achievement to makeyou see its mighty subject in that lightIt is the dearth of integrity that makes Pietersen such a peevish,trifling character,and the surfeit that makes Keane so entrancinglyepic...the personification of honest to a fault...he is as close assport can offer to an Old Testament prophet. Heroically unconcerned withbeing loved,almost insanely devoted to telling what he regards as theplain truth,he may not always be engaging. But...he stands out asutterly and irreducibly true to himselfThe best things are the small things: regretting joining Ipswich when he discovered the training kit was blue; refusing to sign Robbie Savagebecause hisanswerphone message was rubbish; being appalled that hisside had listened to anAbba song before playing football. Theirrational,blistering intolerance isdelicious. Keane famouslydetested yes-men; he created himself as the ultimateno-man. And he'sstill hereA genuine pleasure; it is a masterpiece of the genre and one thatpaints,in an entirely unintentional way,an extremely flatteringportrait of the man...Keane is not afraid to laugh at himself bytelling stories against himself...His thoughts on his players are humane,interesting,candidand never less than believable ... Keane's story is of a man,too,onewho has had to look at football and life anew as a manager,and it isthis added perspective that gives richness and humanity to the taleWhen Keane says anything,listening is usually the best option. He'sscarily extreme,dangerously provocative,oxy-acetylene forthright ...and hugely entertaining...Self-desctruction,self-pity,self-laceration- his latest unburdening has all this and more. His book reveals moreflaws and admits to more mistakes than Sir Alex Ferguson did in his lastliterary effort - and Keane's is much funnierThe book is brilliantly constructed,rattling along at breakneck speed. And it makes a change from the standard sporting autobiography in being so hard on its principal subject. This is a book full of self-deprecation...No self-aggrandisement,rather a ruthless self-examinationKeane's eminent co-writer,Booker Prize-winning Irish author Roddy Doyle,does a brilliant job. His gift for comedy and swearing,together with his wonderfully transparent style,not only captures his country man's voice but also adds some much-needed light and shade to the unforgiving business of being Roy Keane. It's not a sentence I expected to write but the account of Keane's triumphant first season at Sunderland is particularly upliftingI'm surprised how much Roy Keane's second autobiography made me laugh ...More importantly the book told me that Keane should be the nextManchester United manager. The more I read what he had to say,and hisreflections on his two jobs as boss,the more I realised how perfect hewould be at Old TraffordA book that offers great insight into the modern manager's job ... Thebook does not attempt to deflect the mistakes Keane made but it adds adimension to the man. Especially in his reflections on small details ofbehaviour,and there are scores of them...Keane must hope that thedecision-makers in football take the trouble to read the book itselfVery funny...fantastically entertainingThe rhythm of it compels attention - it's like someone talking directly to you in a pub...It's a thoughtful book,for a footballer. But while it's taken a novelist to write his life,it may take a psychoanalyst to understand itReflective and funny...Doyle helps to capture Keane's humour and polish his jokes (the punchline is invariably an expletive). Despite the involvement of such an esteemed novelist and author of The Commitments,there is no doubt that the voice is Keane's...an enjoyable read...Keane is full of such sharp observationsSearingly honestThe belligerence,dry humour and short fuse still exist but it has now been accompanied by introspection,harsh self-criticism and no little humilityI've just got my copy of The Second Half and although I'm only a coupleof chapters into it,it has not disappointed. People have their ownopinions of Roy and some would be fearful of him,given how outspoken hecan be. I have always judged people how I find them and I can honestlysay I have never found a fault in him...He had a fabulous career and Iknow I'm going to enjoy reading about itA candid and at times moving account of Keane coming to terms with the end of his playing career. It is at its most engaging when Keane steps out of character: describing shedding tears upon leaving Old Trafford and his twilight season at Celtic when his broken body failed him. Star ghost writer Roddy Doyle captures Keane's short,sharp and abrupt rhythm,like the cracks of a snare drumPeople miss the fact that Keane is funny. Caustic,yes,clenched,he'd admit. Angry (though no longer prone to rage,his book claims) more than most. But funny. The light touch in The Second Half is not exclusively Doyle's. Yet the heavy stuff compels...The account of Keane's Sunderland reign is riveting. The everyday trials of a first-time manager are uncovered as in no other book...The Second Half is brutally honestDefiant and enjoyableIf you write a book,you have got to be true to yourself. It's no good just making something up. You have got to show what is in your heart,and what is in your head,and that is what Roy has doneThe thing I love about this man is there is nothing he writes down that he would not say to someone's faceThere is no denying the man is a compelling figure... Keane is a welcome maverick. Football is entertainment and the Irishman is infinitely entertaining. His aura makes his every word worth listening to... Roy Kane is a treasure of the game; love him or hate him,football would the all the poorer without his loveably,uniquely scathing presenceTrue star quality... a brilliant insight into Keane's mindsetThere are plenty of insightful and entertaining anecdotes,wry asides and sarcastic barbs. It's not unexpected. Keane is a more rounded individual than the cartoon image that's been created around him might suggest... Surprisingly,you might find yourself chuckling as you work your way across a panoramic footballing landscapeKeane's wry wit enjoys the turbo-boost of Doyle's comic timing,absurd observations and his mastery of the dark arts of expletivesTwo books in one - the tales of a truly great Premier League footballer,flawed by raging moments of visceral destructiveness... then thetortuous account of an aspiring,complex 21st-century manager...addictive road-crash reading... But the book's true revelatory value isseen during Keane's time as manager of Sunderland,which he relates witha remarkable candour and honesty. An incomparable achievement - writtenwith Booker prize-winner Roddy Doyle - illustrating the contemporarydemands on a player and boss whose life has always been conducted withits own stark,peculiar,and sometimes violent,logicI won't name names,but most sporting biographies couldn't set anashtray on fire,let alone a crowd. The best one I've read of late isRoy Keane's The Second Half,which is actually written by RoddyDoyle,of course; and this is why it's good. It's not just Keano himselfthat makes the book interesting; it's Doyle's writingKeano rarely fails to entertain and with a ghost outrider such as Roddy Doyle,we get a snappy,snapping tale,,with Keane putting the boot into those he considers deserving but also not sparing the rod on himself... Like the midfield dynamo in his prime,this story could run and runEngrossing... a book that is both an exercise in truth-telling and a piece of literary football writingBrutally honest,self-deprecating and critical of everyone. Whether you're a fan of Roy or not,you will see a whole new side of him and his viewsOne of the most compelling sports autobiographies in recent timesThe former Manchester United and Ireland hard man comes across as funny,scathing,regretful and,as with so many forcefully clear-mindedpeople,touchingly contradictoryA thoroughly entertaining rampageKeane pulls no punches in what he says. I admire him. He's incredibly passionate and doesn't suffer fools. He deserves credit for that. I was never on the end of one of his tackles but I always enjoyed watching him and I like how he speaks his mind. We've lost a little bit of that personality in the game - the likes of Keane and his bust-upsBooker Prize-winner Roddy Doyle nails Keane's attitude and cadences... Compelling,eye-opening,and - whisper it - great funTo use a sporting cliché,this blisteringly honest book - written in collaboration with Roddy Doyle - is a tale of two halves. An account of the driven Premier League star's career,then an insight into life as a manager. Roy Keane's self-deprecating wit,combined with a take-no-prisoners approach,make for an entertaining readAs an Arsenal fan,I was never a lover of Roy Keane. But I loved his book,The Second Half,written with Roddy Doyle. Honest,self critical and... a raising of the bar in the generally dodgy field of football autobiography

Roy Keane

Roddy Doyle

One of Ireland's most popular and acclaimed voices,Dublin-born author Roddy Doyle is best known for the Barrytown Trilogy and his Booker Prize-winning novel Paddy Clarke,Ha Ha Ha.