Keane’s timing as bad as a late tackle

THERE are several levels of intrigue swirling around Roy Keane’s autobiography, and I’m not sure I have a solid grasp on any of them.

I can't explain the timing. Nor the Alf Inge Haaland admissions, and most of all Roy's seemingly insatiable desire to be at odds with those professionals around him.

Keane has frequently provided searing honesty when analysing Man Utd's shortcomings, but he always included himself in the criticism. Now "they" are the mansion and Rolex brigade, with their fast cars and faster lifestyles. The irony, of course, is that Roy is part of that set as much as anyone else. He too enjoys the enormous trappings of his wealth.

Jaap Stam paid dearly for his literary indiscretions at Old Trafford, but Roy Keane has received no sanction whatsoever from his manager. Clearly Keane is now the kingpin in the United dressing room. That's a delicate balancing act for Alex Ferguson. Roy knows he can rattle a few cages in the dressing room and get away with it but the manager must also retain respect and fairness to everyone else.

From Roy's point of view, he is now in serious danger of isolating himself at the club. I am perplexed by the timing of the book, why he has put pen to paper at such a critical juncture in his career. I accept that the Man Utd captain likes to give off the impression that he doesn't give a toss about anything or anyone, but nobody in any sphere of life needs to be dragging controversial baggage around with him all the time.

Sideways digs at his colleagues will hardly help him within Old Trafford, continuing his criticisms of others outside Man Utd is only serving to confirm the critic's suspicions that he now talks too much for his own good.

I was thoroughly in agreement with his criticisms of the FAI, but even then the timing was dubious. However, post World Cup, there was a strong sense of moving on for everyone, an earnest wish to put the Saipan experience behind us.

There is another difficulty for Keane in the United dressing room. If he persists in scattergunning criticism, then eventually it's going to go in one ear and out the other of his colleagues. And then, the rancour in the dressing room becomes a real issue for Ferguson.

I've been a captain in the dressing room and I've been lucky (or cute enough) to get on with most of my bosses. That gave me a bit of latitude to flex my authority. Without that, the legs were cut from under me, and I was no use to the gaffer.

For the time being, Keane is far more important to Ferguson than, say, Dennis Wise was to Mickey Adams at Leicester, which is why Wise was sent packing after punching a team mate. He's hardly the first pro to swing for a colleague in a drunken state, but it gave the Leicester manager the excuse he needed to offload him quick.

What remains at issue is how much longer Ferguson can afford to give his loyal skipper "the best player he's ever worked with" carte blanche at Man Utd.

The Haaland controversy is more sinister. It is hard to accept that any lawyer who succeeds in getting the Norwegian's ear will not advise him to sue Roy Keane especially if Haaland fails in getting back to full fitness.

Usually, such court actions fall on the lack of concrete evidence. For Haaland, the solution is in Keane's book.

Clearly, Roy has closed the door on any reconciliation with Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, but everyone recognises that it will only take a couple of bad results in the first of the European Championship qualifiers to kick things off again.

The pity of this unseemly controversy is that Keane remains a fantastic footballer, but the public perception of the Cork man is being disfigured by his own admissions which wouldn't be any less controversial in five years time when he has finished playing.

Not that he really cares, I suppose.