• Week in Words

Pouring petrol on the flames

Roy Keane caused more than a stir this week with the release of his second autobiography © PA Photos

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In the latest edition of ESPN's Week in Words, Roy Keane and Kevin Pietersen pour petrol on the flames with their respective autobiographies, while David Moyes just can't catch a break...

"I just thought, 'F***ing prick' - and I stood up and went 'Yeah, I'm off'"
In his new autobiography, Roy Keane revealed that his exit from Manchester United went exactly how you expected it did

"I got Robbie's mobile number and rang him. It went to his voicemail: 'Hi, it's Robbie - whazzup!' like the Budweiser ad. I never called him back. I thought: 'I can't be f****** signing that"
Another gem from Keane - this time on abandoning his attempt to sign Robbie Savage for Sunderland

"You can't go against him because you'll never be allowed speak to him again but, thank God, I don't have those problems. Why do people let him get away with that? People sit back and are frightened to death of him"
Keane's press-conference to promote the release of his book proved to be just as entertaining - as this quote about Sir Alex Ferguson shows

"I've seen him doing it to other managers, it is a disgrace. The game is still going on. You wouldn't do that on a Sunday morning, you would get knocked out"
Keane also didn't hold back in his assessment of Jose Mourinho's attempt to shake his hand before the final whistle at Stamford Bridge

"I am just being a little bit lazy. But if you want me to get rid of it, I might"
Although, Keane did eventually lighten up a bit - here he describes the reason behind his magnificent beard

"Horrendous. Hugely disturbing. I brought it up. I brought it up on numerous occasions. I told Strauss about it, I told Cook about it. It was a huge thing"
Kevin Pietersen's autobiography also made waves, as he made claims of a bullying culture within the England dressing room

"He built a regime, he didn't build a team. I've told him this before. I told him during his coaching reign. I told him on numerous occasions: 'You're playing by fear here, you want guys to be scared of you. And Andy I'm not scared of you.' And he hated it'"
Pietersen also took aim at Andy Flower

"A bowler or wicketkeeper delivers a bit of a kick up the backside - just like a goalkeeper shouts at his centre-half. This is international sport, not the Under-11s"
Graeme Swann hit back at Pietersen's claims...

"It riled the team and management that KP allowed Piers Morgan to belittle AC [Alastair Cook] and the team on social media. When asked by some of his team mates to get Piers Morgan to stop tweeting about the team, KP laughed at the players and told them to get a thicker skin"
...while a legal document leaked to ESPN revealed a list of incidents from the Ashes tour used in the case against Pietersen

"To play under Andrew Strauss, to have played under Andy Flower as coach, I have only got respect for these guys. I do believe that era has been tarnished, and I am sad about that
Alastair Cook was another to respond to Pietersen's claims

"The days of walking in, shouting and screaming and throwing teacups at players were gone. There is no point effing and blinding at a player who can hardly speak English"
Harry Redknapp also got in on this autobiography malarkey this week

"I told them: 'You don't respect me and you don't respect your words, you treat me like cattle.' They defended their interests and I defended mine" Away from the world of books, Morgan Schneiderlin opened up about his row with Southampton when he wanted to leave the club in the summer

"Manchester paid for their stupidness and now they have got to recover"
Dutch legend Johan Cruyff didn't think much of United's decision to hire David Moyes

"I pulled off a few good saves, maybe some world class ones. I probably kept the score under the 30s…It was a great experience and we can take lots of positives"
Cheadle Town goalkeeper Steve Piggot feels he had a good game, despite his side's 22-0 defeat to Russia U-19s

"What a superb performance! It seems his new haircut brought him luck…!"
Juan Mata revealed the real explanation behind David De Gea's heroics against Everton last weekend

For more of ESPN's favourite quotes from the sporting world, visit our Quote/Unquote section.

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