Dunphy tackles Keane criticism but ‘holds no grudges’
The opening chapter of Keane’s new book, The Second Half, deals with the fall-out from the assistant Ireland manager’s first autobiography, which was ghost written by Dunphy.
The FA banned the former Manchester United captain for five matches and fined him £150,000 in 2002 when quotes attributed to Keane in the Dunphy-penned book suggested that he intentionally injured Manchester City’s Alf-Inge Håland during a match the previous year.
In his new book, Keane says his defence went “out the window” when Dunphy told the FA disciplinary hearing that he believed the player intentionally intended to injure Håland.
Dunphy yesterday told RTÉ’s Sean O’Rourke that he had paraphrased Keane’s words on the incident, but that he had no choice but to tell the hearing that he believed Keane intended to injure Håland, given Keane’s previous statements on the incident.
“Roy had admitted publicly that he did intend to do him, because Håland had done him four years previously. Now if I had answered that question, no, I think I would have lost all credibility as a witness. What the inquiry was charging Roy with was premeditation and then profiting from it. Now I tried to take the rap for that and I did my best. So maybe there’s a memory issue there, but I wouldn’t hold that against him,” Dunphy said. Reviewing the new book, Dunphy praised biographer Roddy Doyle and said it gave an honest account of Keane’s fall-out with then-Manchester United manager, Alex Ferguson.
“Obviously, when it leaked earlier this week, the juicy bits were picked out, but when you actually read the book, it isn’t an exercise in score-settling. I think it’s a story and it’s a very compelling and interesting story and it’s well told.
“I think kids should read this book, young people who want to be footballers, because it does show the difference between someone like Keane, who is bright, emotional, straight, and someone like Ferguson, who is shrewd, experienced, manipulative and a great manager.
“Ferguson shafted him badly, and I think that’s an important story to be in the public domain. The history of football and the history of Manchester United demands it, and I think Roddy Doyle has done an outstanding job and Keane has been honest — he told the truth,” he said.
Speaking on the same programme, Doyle described writing the book as “a fantastic experience” and said that his work benefited from his lack of prior experience in sports writing. “I decided that my outsider status would be an advantage, that I could actually ask him questions that professional sportswriters might be embarrassed to ask him.
“We relaxed quite quickly, and I tried to rein in my enthusiasm and to try to make sure that I never actually overstepped from being just a fan of football, not him in particular. I would heartily detest Manchester United, not each and every individual involved in the club, but certainly the institution. It’s been a joy to hate them for so much for so long,” Doyle said.
