Keane reveals quit threat

ROY Keane described in detail yesterday the night last September when he nearly quit Manchester United.

"Newcastle away in mid-September," writes Keane in his autobiography. "We go 3-1 down Giggsy and Seba Veron get us back to 3-3. Shearer scores the winner. Christ. A bloody mess, a shambles, me worse than anyone. I grab the ball to take a throw-in. Shearer stops me. He's taking the piss. I lose it, throw the ball at him. "You prick," he sneers. The way he says it, I know he really means it. I go for him, try to grab him by the throat. He's grinning. "You prick", he says, again. The red card comes out.

"Shearer's right: I am a prick. Fell into the trap. In the dressing room I felt empty. Hollow. Nothing in there, just remorse ....

Travelling back down the motorway, the coach was quiet. Looking out of the window, I felt numb. I'd done daft things before. But this time I couldn't get myself off the hook. I'd had enough of my behaviour. It wasn't worth it, I thought. Putting myself and everyone else through this. There's only so much people can take. The gaffer said goodnight. 'Don't do anything stupid Roy,' he said."

At home that night, Keane decided he would quit. "Give it up Roy" he thought. "You've turned 30, get out, get away, do something else. You've got to stop hurting yourself, hurting those you love. I talked it over with Theresa. She argued I would miss it. I said I wouldn't. Anything would be better than this madness, getting angry and frustrated, lashing out. Next morning I was waiting for the gaffer at the training ground at eight o'clock. I told him I wanted to pack it in. He said it was a knee-jerk reaction. We talked for a long time, me more than him. I insisted my mind was made up and said I wouldn't play against Lille in the Champions League on the Tuesday."

Keane agonised over his decision that night. "I loved my football, really loved it. And if I couldn't play with my heart, I couldn't play." But Alex Ferguson convinced him to stay, telling him "you'd be mad to leave football."

Keane reveals loyalty to Ferguson was the reason he decided to carry on. Keane also spoke about his public feud with Alf-Inge Haaland, and revealed excessive drinking had a lot to do with the serious injury he suffered while attempting to foul Haaland in a match at Elland Road in 1997. Keane and Haaland engaged in a running battle throughout the game, and "five minutes from time, I lunged at him in desperation. I knew it would mean a booking but f*** it. As I slid in, my studs caught in the turf and I head my cruciate ligaments snap." Even though the injury was self-inflicted, Keane never forgave Haaland. "Some three years on I still hadn't forgotten him. Now it was Man City at home, his new club, fighting relegation. I waited until five minutes from the end. I f***ing hit him hard. I think the ball was there. 'Take that, you c***.' I didn't even wait for the ref to show the red card."

Another man in Keane's firing line is former United goalkeeper Mark Bosnich. "He wasn't exactly the most dedicated pro."

Keane also thought Peter Schmeichel was a 'poser' and a 'show-off'.

Keane revealed yesterday what really happened the day Ferguson told his players he was staying on for another three years.

He called a team meeting to make the announcement official. I've read some players cried and the gaffer got a big round of applause. This is what really happened. A couple of players gave an embarrassed little clap as he was leaving the room. Thinking we were taking the piss, he turned round and told us to 'f*** off'. Then we turned to Dwight Yorke, who had been talking about the post-Ferguson era, how he would have a new beginning, get a new deal. "That's you f*****, Yorkie," someone said. He was right."