Roy Hodgson prefers to relax by reading winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature rather than contenders for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year, but he would be well advised to dip into Roy Keane’s The Second Half when he gets the opportunity. Just in case the literary snob in Hodgson has doubts about being seen with a ghosted autobiography, he can take reassurance given that the co-author, Roddy Doyle, would be equally comfortable in either camp
Taken from Keane's book.
We came back, went to Fulham and beat them, 3–1. It was a comfortable victory. We played well.
As a manager I was enjoying the chats with other managers after the games. Not so much enjoying
what was being said, but picking up on their vibes and listening out for a little snippet of wisdom. I’d be
thinking, ‘What makes this club work?’, or ‘What are the staff like?’ So I went up to see Roy Hodgson,
the Fulham manager, and his assistant, Ray Lewington. It was like the scene in Steve Cotterill’s office at
Burnley the year before, but without the humour. Steve had turned his disappointment into a joke, but
this was different. They were all going, ‘We’re fucked, we’re fucked.’
It was embarrassing. I had my Diet Coke and one of those little sausages, and we left. I remember
thinking, ‘My goodness, they are fucked.’
But they stayed up. Roy got the Liverpool job, and now he’s managing England.